Slake

I like this bit from "Places of Memory" by D.G. Jones appearing in Phrases from Orpheus (1967).

Not far is a barn
And a pump where the water comes splashing
Over the boards

The spirit is thirsty, drinks
When we least are aware
What I admire in these stanzas is the juxtaposition of the very concrete scene of pumping water (which indeed does splash when using a hand pump) and the more abstract musings of quenching the spirit of thirst. And then the element of surprise contained in the line "When we least are aware". It somehow all flows like the water.

And so for day 874
05.05.2009