Old Dragon, Old Familiar
William Auten
Molly Sunderdick
Vision at quarter past glance,
Is mid-October foliage and relief,
The obvious and the oblivion,
The fleeting and the fair-weather.
Forces and natures of judgment,
Are warm rain and polished silver,
The temperate and the tarnish,
The drip and the damage.
Moments of clarity and discretion,
Are limestone and sand bars,
The jagged and the jutting,
The aged and the abyss.