1. the face
i want to tell you
i love you,
i want
the clarity of water
between us . . .
so
amazed am i
when i stop and turn away!
for you are a vision,
a demon,
a clear and perfect rose!
2. the memory
in a candles eye there burns a mystery
a sadness an empty mouth a hope
in your eyes a mountain rises up from youth–
ful folly, standing certain on the brink
of the abyss.
in the moment of a wave
a memory, a distant
love collapsing on the sand
we understand our limits
are truly what we make them
3. the reconstruction
when once i saw the laughter in the earth i knew the air was made
to love you,
O today i have not died as much as yesterday,
dear woman who can break
once i stole the goblet from your heart
for you are truly rain
your eyes are not your eyes
and i a mountain rising up from youth
i stole what was once your heart
and i heard what once was your voice:
an empty mouth a sadness
a clear and perfect rose!
time is heavy as the pearls
like hanged men
strung across your breast.
time is heavy,
i turn away.
i want to tell you that our hands eat ice,
O knife,
O street that has no name