Channels, Fall 2017

Channels • 2017 • Volume 2 • Number 1 Page 27 “I Wait” by Ezra Pound As some pale-lidded ghost that calls I wait secure until that other goes Leaving thee free for thy high self of old Upon which soul then free, will mine beget Such mighty fantasies as we before Bade stand effulgent and rejoice the world. I wait secure and waiting know I not A bite of anger at thy littleness, nor even envy Of that the other one that bindeth thee Within the close-hewn shroud of womanhood. Being at peace with God and all his stars Why should I quail the strings of nettle Time Or fret the hour Are there canals less green Or do the mottled colors of reflexion Less dew their waters with mild harmony? Is there less merriment and life withall Amid this hoard of half-tamed brats That rollick o'er the well-curb while one crowned In mock of finery doth lead the rout Half-scared at all the new-found pomp Atop of him? A Czar in very soul. And if they mock the world in this their spot Is not their jest as near to wisdom as are we? “The Dream of a Lacquer Box” by Kimiko Hahn I wish I knew the contents and I wish the contents Japanese — like hairpins made of tortoiseshell or bone though my braid was lopped off long ago, like an overpowering pine incense or a talisman from a Kyoto shrine, like a Hello Kitty diary-lock-and-key, Hello Kitty stickers or candies,