The Fountain

(A cyanotype, also called a sun print or
blueprint, circa 1850, by British botanist
Anna Atkins, 1797-1871)

“There is a politeness of the heart. It is akin to love.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German writer, poet, dramatist, and scientist

THE FOUNTAIN

Don’t say, don’t say there is no water
to solace the dryness at our hearts.
I have seen

the fountain springing out of the rock wall
and you drinking there. And I too
before your eyes

found footholds and climbed
to drink the cool water.

The woman of that place, shading her eyes,
frowned as she watched — but not because
she grudged the water,

only because she was waiting
to see we drank our fill and were
refreshed.

Don’t say, don’t say there is no water.
That fountain is there among the scalloped
green and gray stones,

it is still there and always there
with its quiet song and strange power
to spring in us,
up and out through the rock.

~ Denise Levertov (1923-1977), English-born American poet