This poem is taken from PN Review 239, Volume 44 Number 3, January - February 2018.
Unpublished Poems
Some Unpublished Poems
These were included in a letter of 4 August 1955 to Kenneth Koch. The acrostic poems were based on the names of people staying with Fairfield and Anne Porter at their summer home on Great Spruce Head Island, off the coast of Maine.
The Council of Trent
Wooo! Wooo! go the trumpets
As the nobles and church officials near the gates of Trent.
Wooo! Wooo! go trumpets from within the town.
The great gates open, the nobles and church officials enter the town.
It is almost dark as they reach the episcopal palace and file inside.
Each man takes a seat at the big table.
The nobles are wearing purple velvet tunics and black hats with black feathers on them,
The church officials are wearing brown or red silk.
Suddenly the archbishop appears; he signals to the trumpet players, who respond with one long whoosh!
The archbishop smiles at everybody and sits down at the head of the table;
The council of Trent is about to begin.
(acrostics)
Japanese Sandman
Jerry and Kitty are
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue':
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 288 issues containing over 11,600 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews,
why not subscribe to the website today?