Farewell

 

Farewell

I remember
the men
who fell with a flash of beautiful anger
into the resin still warm
beneath the brush

and the monumental women
wrapped in furs
their lips like burnt cherries

above them a fragment of sky with cloud

a crucifix over the door

the dark interior brightened by fruit bowl and table cloth
the pride of miraculous faces and hands
the precious hair the subtle shadows

I have abandoned you the world's most beautiful
imposters
my memory of you not yet safe

Armed with a sword I leave
towards an horizon
both gentle
and bright