Charms

by Gary Snyder

The beauty of naked or half–naked women,

lying in nothing clear or obvious — not

in exposure

but a curve of the back or the arm

as a dance or

evoking another world

The Deva Realm or better, the Delight

at the heart of creation

Brought out for each mammal species

specifically, in some dreamlike perfection

of name and form

Thus I could be devastated and a thirst with longing

for a lovely mare or lioness or lady mouse

in seeing the beauty from there

shining through her

some toss of the whiskers

or grace–full wave of the tail

That enchants

Enchants, and thus

Charms

About the Author:
Gary Snyder was born in San Francisco in 1930, and currently teaches at the University of California in Davis. Associated with the Beat poets of the 1950s and 60s, his later work has been increasingly focused on nature, ecology, and the spiritual philosophies of the East. His many poetry collections include The Black Country, Regarding Wave, Axe Handles, The Old Ways, No Nature, Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, Turtle Island (for which he received the Pulitzer Prize) and the epic poem Mountains and Rivers Without End. He has also published inspiring works on myth, nature, and spirit, including The Incredible Survival of Coyote, He Who Hunted Birds in His Father's Village: Dimensions of a Haida Myth, and The Practice of the Wild. For more information, please visit the Modern American Poetry website's Gary Snyder pages.

Copyright © 1974 by Gary Snyder. This poem may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission