For Gladys Finley
Farewell, a long farewell to all the joys
Of woods and water, valley, stream, and hill!
Goodbye as well to all the tarnished boys
With names like Godric, Raphael, and Bill!
Keep your meetings brief, your greetings breezy:
Regret will not be vain, nor parting easy.
Easy goes the flow of least resistance,
Fluid love that reaches its own level
In the secret back room of existence
To find itself confronted by a devil
When all the mysteries of tainted blood
Are washed away by that enchanted flood.
This appeared in the March 2013 issue.
Daryl Hine earned MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships over the course of his illustrious career. He died in August 2012.
