Smoky midnight torches slowly enwound A wine-heavy head; my old eyes In ominous moonlight upon a photograph confound Some ancient satyr's head drowsing in its beard; 5 Fabulous syllables out of the bitter heart rise; Embittered fables of the Emperor instruct Oceanic ache of sex and blood What's most noble in the bone. Out of those lamp-lit or flame-lit mouths 10 Flickering vaguely there, flash thousands, Upside down or upright in the air, Battered abstract complexities of flesh; Dark turmoil of flesh begetting flesh. But all mind needs image to be complete: 15 Rage-minded Timon thrashing riches at a stone, Or that huckster Richard abandoned to a throne. Self-invented, or tossing thought of age, Cast-out circles of the flames reveal A single man upon a stage, all Lear 20 In his proud lineaments thunderstruck: Confusion of a mind unable to set a scene Among a multitude of scenes, Dramatic images that repeat Tumult of living body stylized to a theme.
From the collection "Burning Byzantium"
Written by Gregg Glory [Gregg G. Brown]
More information available on gregglory.com.