Poems by Iven Lourie

Fair Youth

by Iven Lourie

From Canary August/September 2009

for Bethany & Taramin

Fair youth beneath the trees...
this is your country now
your woods and stubble fields
your mornings of radiant delight
sweet wind on the lips
haze of dust around the horse’s flanks

I must lean back and loiter
on my upstairs foothills porch
dream over the ring of hilltops
speculate and sort through memory tatters

But with Keats I address your younger hearts:
Thou canst not leave thy song...
Go on beyond the acres of our farms
our cultured backyards—go into the wilds
to seek your own adventure

Nourish your spirit and honor the Mother
Make new songs and new arrangements
You must keep life alive in your turn
with songs and stewardship—
nor ever can those trees be bare...