"How to keep — is there any any, is there none such, nowhere known some, bow or brooch or braid or brace, lace, latch or catch or key to keep Back beauty, keep it, beauty, beauty, . . . from vanishing away?" (from the Maidens' song from St. Winefred's Well - The Leaden Echo by Gerard Manley Hopkins)

 

 

With charcoal

I'll draw a summer morning on white paper

twilight relieves the grass with a soft rain,

when you pay a visit to me - maybe you will -

birds start to sing and

  skylights open to

skies full of stars that still linger

arranged in symphonies not heard before

I dress in memories of your embrace

with flowers in my hair, painted lips and lace

you say the words

but languages are destroyed and I cannot

count the numbers

so years will circle round the earth

that never moves

a mirror in the bathroom tells you

only lies

this prayer’s knife reflects your shoulder blades

it sculpts the marble of your life

those gods that ride in chariots

will bring my summer back