The Spirit of Stony Brook bridge glistening
In crystalline-lambent, saffron-misting silences
Of primrose-weaving, honeysuckle-scented dawns,
Hovering over me gently in amber-weaving blooms
Of pink-amaryllis, lilac-effulgent melodies,
Wondering if his stones are as old
As the stones of Paris, Rome,
London, or Vienna,
Wondering if his stones are as gorgeous
As the stones of Blenheim Palace, Chartres,
Hopetoun House, or the Alhambra,
Wondering if his stones are as revered
As the stones of Biltmore, Kykuit, Nassau Hall,
Or the splendid bridge over the Delaware;
The Spirit of Stony Brook bridge flowing
In marigold-ancestral waves of prodigal-lonely dusks
And odyssey-divine tears, carving lily-diapason,
Sapphire-magenta dreams of apricot-sibylline, asphodel-gloaming
Light on emerald-astered, cypress-cascading horizons
Shaping Aurora-sophic, silken-altared omens of dahlia-luminescent,
Wisteria-golden eternity on the Aeolian-lyred,
Amaranth-celestial wind, wondering
If his stones are as old as time,
Wondering if his stream is as cherished as the sun.
Hugo Walter has a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.A. in humanities from Old Dominion University, and a Ph.D. in English from Drew University. He grew up in Princeton and is a professor of English and humanities at Berkeley College in New Jersey.
