Of Indigo and Saffron by Michael McClure

from "Seven Poems from On Organism, 1974"
1

EACH BON MOT HAS COST ME A PURSE OF GOLD.
ERASE THE LINES OF THE NIGHT FROM THE COUCH OF THE
 DAY.
COOL TURQUOISE CRYSTAL FEATHER — WOLF PROTON GYRE.
SCROLLED FERN SHADOW SPORE — BREAST SALT MOON.
Wheel of the galaxy turning in tumbleweed.
Faces of antelope staring from ice cream.
Watches ticking on the backs of turtles.
Tambourines tinkling in apple trees.
Flames full of creatures arising from the mouths of worms.
Bearded men pondering in dreams.
Bees and moths darting on the fields of purple asters.
Odor of hummingbird mint crunched under boot heel.
Maya.
Spirit.
Matter.
River.
Creek.
River.
Matter.
Spirit.
Maya.
Odor of hummingbird mint crunched under boot heel.
Bees and moths darting on the fields of purple asters.
Bearded men pondering in dreams.
Flames full of creatures arising from the mouths of worms.
Tambourines tinkling in apple trees.
Watches ticking on the backs of turtles.
Faces of antelope staring from ice cream.
Wheel of the galaxy turning in tumbleweed.
SCROLLED FERN SHADOW SPORE — BREAST SALT MOON.
COOL TURQUOISE CRYSTAL FEATHER — WOLF PROTON GYRE.
ERASE THE LINES OF THE NIGHT FROM THE COUCH OF THE
  DAY.
EACH BON MOT HAS COST ME A PURSE OF GOLD.

Excerpted from Of Indigo and Saffron
by Michael McClure. Copyright © 2011 by Michael McClure.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, University of California Press.