Nuances on a Theme by Stevens, Things Off Season, and: Seven Scenes of Riverdale, New York, and: Shabbos

Abstract

Nuances on a Theme by Stevens, Things Off Season, and: Seven Scenes of Riverdale, New York, and: Shabbos Rachel Aviva Burns Nuances on a Theme by Stevens The wind speeds her,Blowing upon her handsAnd watery back.She touches the clouds, where she goesIn the circle of her traverse of the sea. I Wherever she goes,she touches the cloudsand the tips of her fingersgrow soft with cumulus. II She never turns her touch into a grasp;clouds wetly elude a tempted clasp. III Wind-sped, she traversesthe whale-road.Above, clouds envyher sea-touching toes. IV Gallic nuages dot the plages.Where she passes,touching lovers bask. V When she touches the clouds,where does her mind go?They settle as a gentle crownhaloing about herlofty weather. [End Page 144] Things Off Season The confused daffodils emerge in Februaryonly to be brittled by frost,disrupting calculationsof the floral actuarywho cries for the anthers’ loss. Panthers prowl in the darkpeddling zoo-goers dreamsof dank, humid summer night.Circling the zoo-glass, toddlers scream“A cat! Big cat!” with skittish delight. Give me the life of a greenhouse mousestuffing her cheeks with orchid blooms!She gluts her wee rodent gutson priceless Gold of Kinabulu.What a feast of botanic doom! [End Page 145] Seven Scenes of Riverdale, New York I The Irish childrenare playing in the street.Two ride bicycles,pedaling with bare feet. II The man with two hatshops every third step. III On the hot pavement,eleven cats sprawl.The lady who feeds thempeeks through her window.She sees their waving tails. IV Listen to the man at the delion the phone:“Tuna on rye,turkey on white,roast beef on a roll.” V The bell rings at St. Margaret’s.Children emerge,sporting smilesand uniforms. VI At the Yeshiva,the day ends at Five.The boys wear yarmulkes,the girls, long skirts. VII The gates of the Russian Missionare high.Security cameras watchwith mechanical eyes. [End Page 146] Shabbos Let my hale fatness declare itselfwith the strong tongue of a young rabbisinging her barachas on a Saturday night! What body boggles the imagined eye but I!These are my sultry salutationsto the congregation passing by. Do not pass over my pulchritude of plumpness!I prefer the rabbi to the divine.My fatness sways and hails Adonai! [End Page 147] Rachel Aviva Burns Dobbs Ferry, New York Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press