PWB Peeps Open Thread: Poetry of MacLeish

The Altar

Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982)

I built an unnamed altar in my heart,  
And sculptured sacred garlands for a frieze  

From delicately petalled memories,—  
The fragrance of a word, the fragile art  
Of ash-gold hair, dim visioned things that start  

With radiant wings from mist of reveries,  
And vanish at the telling as a breeze 
Blurs mirrored stars in dark pools set apart. 

But, as I worshiped reverently there  
The symbols of the beautiful, there came  
A light aslant the shadows of my prayer  

That silenced mine uplifted lips with shame.  
The garlands coldly carven in that fair  
Unmeaning tracery enscrolled—thy name.

_{This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on July 14, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.}

A gentle reminder of how we do things:  🐱🐶🐦

• Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul.
• Please do share pics of your fur kids!  If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community.
• Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs.  Birds... are birds! Peeps are people.
• Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog.  If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly.

• There are some pics we never post:  snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals.  These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated.  If we alert you to it, please remember that we do have phobic peeps who react strongly to them.  If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand.  Or, paw.