LEE EVANS lives in Bath, Maine, and works for the local YMCA.
His poems have appeared in such journals as Contemporary Rhyme, The Deronda Review, Strong Verse and Mused.
His three poetry collections, Maryland Weather, Nor’easter, and My Kingdom Come are available on Lulu.com.
Editor’s note: Lee’s unadorned poetry has a kind of pure simplicity we liked. Don’t mistake simplicity for hollowness, though. His poetry hints at some very poignant backstories in love and romance.
In Day to Day, some phrases just seem to linger with the reader: “I cast you in the morning / upon the dewy grass” and “all the golden flowers / that withered in the air.”
And the marvelous poem The Wilds of Faery Land reminds us of William’s Blake’s style, cadences and symbolism, which I wouldn’t say lightly because I’m a passionate Blake fan. ~ GVB
Day to Day
I cast you in the morning,
Upon the dewy grass,
When I was young and ignorant
Of what might come to pass.
Then hand in hand we wandered
Although we knew not where,
Past all the golden flowers
That withered in the air.
Beneath the sun at noontime
We lay upon the earth;
And stretched beneath my body
You struggled for rebirth.
We rose to follow slowly
The progress of the sun.
Toward the setting darkness
Your footsteps led me on.
Tomorrow’s light may rouse us,
Perhaps, to break this spell.
But now I am your shadow
And linger where you dwell.
The Wilds of Faery Land
As I went out one evening
The sunset sky to see,
I met a fair young maiden
Who cast her spell on me.
And I became the image
Of what I loved in her:
So one we were, yet separate,
I spoke her every word.
And what she said cut through me,
As though it were a knife
That carved away my manhood
And swelled me with her life.
I lifted unto Heaven
Her eyes, and raised her voice,
And begged God to release me.
It seems I had no choice.
But to become the Woman,
As she became the Man
Who once roamed free and easy
The wilds of Faery Land.
