I followed you down some dark alleys
And found a few cul-de-sacs of my own
Tied to the dual grace of war within and composure unknown
That eclipse desire unleashed
Rushed through the veins
Bypa**ed the prostrate heart
And with avarice sought the brain
The cloaked thief of indiscretion and impunity's velvet rule
A kinship well worn laid waste the unity of throttlehold and jugular
Agon attentive never derelict of his duty
Only purged by the smart of acuity
You knew everything the north south west and east
With familiarity the geography of their bodies
And we rend it asunder rend asunder through
Circulation circumscribed and a fist clenched tight
We gripped it with one hand
Then kicked it down the stairs
Conscience: a tumor on the body of early morning
The dual grace of necks hacked clean
Ripped through the fence-sitting agnostics
With the causticity of complete certainty
To release
A Virgil in the Lethe
A Baron in the trees
A body washed ashore on Caracol Beach
Every atrocious moon and every son bitter
The ever-flowing fount of piss and vinegar
Across the fields of youth filled with loss and doom
Emerge clearer
"The naked man climbed a willow tree. The valley was all woods and shrub-covered slopes, under a gray hump of mountain. But at the end of it, where the torrent turned, there was a slate roof with white smoke coming up. Life, thought the naked man, was a hell, with rare moments recalling some ancient paradise."¹