II
Now, sitting in the brown satin chair,
he plans a little meal for friends. So!
the steam rising from his Pullman kitchen
fogs up all memories of Seurat, the lake,
the summer; these are over for th<; moment,
beyond the guests, the cooking sherry and
the gin; such is the palate for sporadic
chitchat and meat. But as the cocktail
warms his courageous cockles he lets
the dinner bum,
his
eyes widen with
sleet, like a cloudbuI'5t fall the summer,
the lake and the voices! He steps into
the mirror, refusing to be anyone else,
and
his
guests observe the waves break.
III
He must send a telegram from the Ice Palace,
although he knows the muzhiks don't read:
"If
I am ever to find these trees meaningful
I must have you by the hand. As it is, they
stretch dusty fingers into an obscure sky,
and the snow looks up like a face dirtied
with tears. Should I cry out and see what happens?
There could only be a stranger wandering
in this landscape, cold, unfortunate, himself
frozen fast in wintry eyes." Explicit Rex.
