Sonless Man
Sonless man, soft murderer.
made of this daughter a loud
unlovely boy, as if a man should
swap yarns with a fern
or force a rough acquaintance
with the mysteries of the earth,
Sonless man, shy killer,
her sad collusion will not save you,
she goes by ways you cannot know,
her womanhood is no-man’s land;
let distance be delight, sonless man,
greet it, let it grow; sonless man let go.
Leonard Lambert 1991