Poems begining by D
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Dream Song 26: The glories of the world struck me
© John Berryman
The glories of the world struck me, made me aria, once.
âWhat happen then, Mr Bones?
if be you cares to say.
âHenry. Henry became interested in women's bodies,
his loins were & were the scene of stupendous achievement.
Stupor. Knees, dear. Pray.
Dream Song 176: All that hair flashing over
© John Berryman
All that hair flashing over the Atlantic,
Henry's girl's gone. She'll find Paris a sweet place
as many times he did.
She's there now, having left yesterday. I held
her cousin's hand, all innocence, on the climb to the tower.
Her cousin is if possible more beautiful than she is.
Dream Song 77: Seedy Henry rose up shy
© John Berryman
Seedy Henry rose up shy in de world
& shaved & swung his barbells, duded Henry up
and p.a.'d poor thousands of persons on topics of grand
moment to Henry, ah to those less & none.
Wif a book of his in either hand
he is stript down to move on.
Dream Song 12: Sabbath
© John Berryman
There is an eye, there was a slit.
Nights walk, and confer on him fear.
The strangler tree, the dancing mouse
confound his vision; then they loosen it.
Henry widens. How did Henry House
himself ever come here?
Dream Song 5: Henry sats in de bar & was odd
© John Berryman
Henry sats in de bar & was odd,
off in the glass from the glass,
at odds wif de world & its god,
his wife is a complete nothing,
St Stephen
getting even.
Dream Song 46: I am, outside. Incredible
© John Berryman
I am, outside. Incredible panic rules.
People are blowing and beating each other without mercy.
Drinks are boiling. Iced
drinks are boiling. The worse anyone feels, the worse
treated he is. Fools elect fools.
A harmless man at an intersection said, under his breath, "Christ!"
Dream Song 62: That dark brown rabbit, lightness in his ears
© John Berryman
That dark brown rabbit, lightness in his ears
& underneath, gladdened our afternoon
munching a crab-'.
That rabbit was a fraud, like a black bull
prudent I admired in Zaragoza, who
certainly was brave as a demon
Dream Song 48: He yelled at me in Greek
© John Berryman
He yelled at me in Greek,
my God!âIt's not his language
and I'm no good atâhis Aramaic,
wasâI am a monoglot of English
(American version) and, say pieces from
a baker's dozen others: where's the bread?
Dream Song 49: Blind
© John Berryman
Old Pussy-cat if he won't eat, he don't
feel good into his tum', old Pussy-cat.
He wants to have eaten.
Tremor, heaves, he sweaterings. He can't.
A dizzy swims of where is Henry at;
. . . somewhere streng verboten.
Dream Song 8: The weather was fine. They took away his teeth
© John Berryman
The weather was fine. They took away his teeth,
white & helpful; bothered his backhand;
halved his green hair.
They blew out his loves, his interests. 'Underneath,'
(they called in iron voices) 'understand,
is nothing. So there.'
Dream Song 131: Come touch me baby in his waking dream
© John Berryman
Come touch me baby in his waking dream
disordered Henry murmured. I'll read you Hegel
and that will hurt your mind
I can't remember when you were unkind
but I will clear that block, I'll set you on fire
along with our babies
Dream Song 61: Full moon. Our Narragansett gales subside
© John Berryman
Full moon. Our Narragansett gales subside
and the land is celebrating men of war
more or less, less or more.
In valleys, thin on headlands, narrow & wide
our targets rest. In us we trust. Far, near,
the bivouacs of fear
Dream Song 130: When I saw my friend covered with blood, I thought
© John Berryman
When I saw my friend covered with blood, I thought
This is the end of the dream, now I'll wake up.
That was more years ago
than I care to reckon, and my friend is not
dying but adhering to an élite group
in California O.
Dream Song 47: April Fool's Day, or, St Mary of Egypt
© John Berryman
âThass a funny title, Mr Bones.
âWhen down she saw her feet, sweet fish, on the threshold,
she considered her fair shoulders
and all them hundreds who have them, all
the more who to her mime thickened & maled
from the supple stage,
Dream Song 101: A shallow lake, with many waterbirds
© John Berryman
A shallow lake, with many waterbirds,
especially egrets: I was showing Mother around,
An extraordinary vivid dream
of Betty & Douglass, and Donâhis mother's estate
was on the grounds of a lunatic asylum.
He showed me around.
Dream Song 127: Again, his friend's death made the man sit still
© John Berryman
Again, his friend's death made the man sit still
and freeze insideâhis daughter won first priceâ
his wife scowled over at himâ
It seemed to be Hallowe'en.
His friend's death had been adjudged suicide,
which dangles a trail
Dream Song 132: A Small Dream
© John Berryman
and I say go to bed! We'll meet tomorrow,
acres of threats dissolve into a smile,
you'll be the Little Baby
again, while I pursue my path of sorrow
& bodies, bodies, to be carried a mile
& dropt. Maybe
Dream Song 76: Henry's Confession
© John Berryman
Nothin very bad happen to me lately.
How you explain that? âI explain that, Mr Bones,
terms o' your bafflin odd sobriety.
Sober as man can get, no girls, no telephones,
what could happen bad to Mr Bones?
âIf life is a handkerchief sandwich,
Dream Song 28: Snow Line
© John Berryman
It was wet & white & swift and where I am
we don't know. It was dark and then
it isn't.
I wish the barker would come. There seems to be eat
nothing. I am usually tired.
I'm alone too.
Dream Song 40: I'm scared a lonely. Never see my son
© John Berryman
I'm scared a lonely. Never see my son,
easy be not to see anyone,
combers out to sea
know they're goin somewhere but not me.
Got a little poison, got a little gun,
I'm scared a lonely.
