Marsden Hartley. The Asses' Out-house. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Asses’ Out-house

By Marsden Hartley


From “Sunlight Persuasions” THREE flies lay sleeping
In a cobweb shroud,
Dreaming of molasses, of jam,
And of heaps of offal.

The fourth swung by his ear.	5

He was a withering fokker
On its last tail spin.

His body was bluebottle;
His wings were grey
As his cobweb shroud,	10
Stitched with prism hues.

He was dreaming of old bones
On which to rear his young.