Was ever a woman
Quite alone for a day?
Other women will come
Who should stay away.
Because my casement's open,
As I wait here for you,
Comes the faint Persephone
Trailing through the dew.
She has lived a thousand years,
Clasped her cosmic rose;
Why she comes to trouble me
Only heaven knows!
And there's another woman
Keeps whispering in my ear,
Till she has the whole house
Pierced through with fear.
Some wandering nun it is,
Whose lips can only pray,
Has made my house a cloister
In this dreary way.
And even now your taxi
Must be racing through the town.
(Will you love me, O my lover,
In this pale yellow gown?)
I have written out a sign
That I hope they will obey--
"For all Peering Women
There is no Right of Way."