6/7/63

Received a letter from Will - he seems unduly concerned with the persistency of rain in Japan
(that is, he seems to attribute his despair to rain (his scapegoat?): is there a more hidden cause of his malaise? which is the phenomenal cause, the internal or the external? - I am composing for him a "tragicomic" Ballad not anything, "in the last analysis" for future generations, just something for a friend (no use to "harp" on this inherent antilogy - just something personally given - not for public use).

Ballad for Poor Folk

There is a man
whose name's Knarf

(Who'd, by the way,

Never be seen in June

Without a scarf);

He trudges, it seems

all day thru puddles

of rose petals

Mumbling to himself

What's the season?

Thus he fares, mooning

About, and missing

His meals: but when

The amethyst-saffron

Carpet of evening

'S laid out,

Then he bucks up

And goes to a hill,

Where, amid hungry

Children and animal

Wails he suddenly

Falls to his knees

And prays to become

Ascent of memory.

Courtsey of the Fales Library, Special Collection, New York University.