TRANSMUTATION

Out of the air, the metal wings of gulls
the clever harriers, the scream and flash;
out of the cradle, the desires of girls,
the folded garments, hands upon the flesh.
Out of the ape, the dreams of strangers - fear;
out of the childless, the enchanting tongue;
fire from the echoing earth, from ether fire;
this moment, this design, from everything.

Not manner, then, but medium - time, not form
- is the external motion: we have been
the salamander in the iron flame,
the symbol, and the carving upon bone.
We shall have been the enmity, the feeling
of death; and one by one the planets falling.