Naked leaves sifted nightly,
		gathered, fondled, and stored
		in long sheets of black fire,
		nailed firm to stars,
		free of feelings' clatter,
		freed most of all from the earth
		whose fingertips touched fire, arms
		steeped in the sickness of its craving:
		the earth's love is persistence; rust;
		time spread over wide pastures; weeds
		perpetuate the difficult love;
		leaf over leaf, thuds of jealousy,
		black, over the shapeless earth.