ultima multis
ultima multis
by Alexandra Weiss
they’ve emptied the fountain for winter
and, on the grass, a wrinkled coverlet
out of season
cheapened and disgraced
a wrought figure tilted
to the unforgiving sky
repelling rain
a wax of itself
the size and shape of my hand
with dropsy
wax paper leaf
at rest
I read that ultima multis means “the last day of many”. I appreciate the “capture the moment” or take a poetic snapshot of a beauty and preserve it motiff here. When it rains, it seems like a time-out from all the hustle and bustle of humanity, a cleansing, a time to catch our breath and not worry. But in this poem, the “coverlet” takes on a human element and defiantly does its job to guard against the rain, the wet, maybe even all of nature. Yet, in time, all follows its course–“…with dropsy wax paper leaf at rest”. I suppose we do our duty, play our part, and then it’s the end. Great read!
Lovely poem of Alexandra Weiss with its elusive allusive coverlet descriptions of bringing us out from nature’s alien wilderness.