Read "Seaweed from Mars" by Maxwell Bodenheim online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
/ I. "Have you ever played on a violin / Larger than ten thousand stars / And warmer than what you call sin? " / Torban, a young man from Mars, / Gave me the stretch of his voice, / And my "no" fell down like a pin / On the echoed din of his words. / He said: "Then I have no choice. / I must use the barrenly involved / Words with which you have not solved / The wistful riddles of your days. / Leave the pale and ruddy herds / Of men, with their surrendering ways, / And come with me to Mars."
/ II. Drums of Autumn beat on Mars, / Calling our minds to reunion. / The avenues of seaweed spars / Have attained a paleness / Equal to that of earthly philosophies, / And the trees have lost / The diamond violence of Spring. / Their purple leaves have turned to grey / Just as a human religion / Gradually changes to pretence. / In Mars we have only two seasons, / Spring and Autumn -- their reasons / Rest in a treacherous sun / That suddenly runs away, / Creating a twilight-suspense. / When the sun reappears / Mars is once more amazed / By the blazing flatteries of Spring. / Again the heavy leaves ring / With odor and light deftly pressed / Into a stormy chorus. / Then we abandon the screaming violins / Of our minds, and each man wins / An understanding rest.