camera

------------------
He wears a dirty
shirt abandoned on the
------------------sand at Biarritz.
------------------
He had decided
to take to the sea
forsaking
the cinema
------------------for the ocean,
but all that he had
the opportunity
------------------to see
was flashing images
------------------of the smiles
of those fortunate enough
to have placed
some distance
between themselves
------------------and the crashing waves.

before the entombment

--------------

Lipstick stain
----------on the shroud
that covers the archbishop’s
------------------blank eyes.
------------------
He was one that looked
----------toward God
for more than a few pennies
------------------to keep his belly stout.
------------------
The girl is an innocent.
----------Not at all adept
in the application of her
------------------heavy makeup.
------------------
Young girls are often
----------that way, not knowing
the subtleties necessary
------------------in the preparation of the grave.
------------------
Her face is streaked
----------with the strain of a job
not at all well done
------------------in spite of the effort.
------------------
As an archbishop
----------he did not believe
it was his calling to teach,
------------------especially young girls.
------------------
Before the internment
----------of the waxen body to the catacombs
they allowed her a long moment
------------------to weep.
------------------
It is only in the deflowering
----------of spring’s boredom
that kingdoms can be forgotten
------------------and the dead can find peace.

in the footsteps of franz

------------------------

When I strolled down
Golden Lane I knew
that you were breathing
heavily when you
thought of the possibilities
that were following me,
and that I might lead
them to you, or at least
to your tomb.