Obituary

In memory of S.

B.

V., 1834-1909... so what the lame four-poster gathered

Between the lips of stale and seasoned

Startles a memory sunlit upon the wall(Motors and urchins contest the city streets)While towards the bed the rigid shadows

Stung to the patience of all

And the bed empty where she kept,

Jerky gnats lunge at the haggard screen.

And now upstairs the lint that crusts the

Erodes in a windy shift along the floor.

Shall now her touselled eyes rinse out the

Of winter sprawled like a waif outside the door?

Feet answer: alternate and

To the hard ease of lacquered pine that

The shuffled fists into the breast and neck.

Time begins to elucidate her

Then you, so crazy and inviolate,

Will finger the console with a fearful touch,

Go past the horsehair sofa, the gilded

Whose faces are tired

For the lifeblood that labors you so much.