JULIA MORGAN AT THE CASTLE| Lucille Lang Day

Light refracts blue in the Neptune Pool.
Green hills dip and roll
beyond marble colonnades.

Bright silk banners catch the sun
from high windows
in the refectory, where silver gleams

on the long, polished table.
Bustling servants offer wine
as the master eats.

Each night I walk alone
on the moonlit terrace;
Madonnas and empresses beam

from gilded walls while guests
dream in beds carved for royalty.
Passing the Three Graces—

Brilliance, Joy and Bloom—
daughters of Zeus, embracing
by the courtyard balustrade,

I recall no greater pleasure
than sketching a new tower
while workmen strain

against cement-filled buggies
under shining globes
of lemon, lime and tangerine.

I am glad the hammering
and carving will continue,
my work unfinished, the flight

of stars pushing ever farther
into space. I am one
with bees and ants creating

their chambers; life is honey
and drudgery. The last
painting will not be placed.