Advice: A Book of Poems

<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</SPAN></span> <h2 class="nobreak">ADVICE TO A HORNÈD TOAD</h2> <div class="poetry-container"> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Hornèd Toad of cloven brown,</div> <div class="verse">Rock souls have dwindled to your eyes</div> <div class="verse">And thrown a splintered end upon your blood.</div> <div class="verse">Night and day have vanished</div> <div class="verse">To you, who squat and watch</div> <div class="verse">Years loosen one sand grain until</div> <div class="verse">Its fall becomes your moment.</div> <div class="verse">Tall things plunge over you,</div> <div class="verse">Slashing their dreams with motion</div> <div class="verse">That holds the death of all they seek,</div> <div class="verse">But you, to whom fierce winds are ripples,</div> <div class="verse">Do not move lest you lose the taste of stillness.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="verse">Hornèd Toad of cloven brown,</div> <div class="verse">Never hop from your grey rock crevice</div> <div class="verse">Mute with interwoven beginnings and ends.</div> <div class="verse">The fluid lies of motion</div> <div class="verse">Leave no remembrance behind.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />