Geraniums . . . Who ever heard that Sappho put Geraniums in her hair? Or thought that Cleopatra brushed Her long Greek face against their petals? Did Beatrice carry them? Or any bird sigh out his wild-fire heart In passion for them? Yet sparrows, far outnumbering nightingales, Have gossiped under their tomato cans, And lonely spinsters loved them more than cats, And living girls have felt quite festive, going Down vulgar streets With such unsubtle gaiety at their belts. |