and i say the sun is callous
     for nothing ever shall be
so
                beautiful

as the delicate fronds splayed unerringly
before my hands. and i do place my vestige
in its thrall and as it is i am nothing compared
to the softness of its belly. so lay inlaid with
rouge splendor and indelible.

   beneath  and
under and my tongue
is the sprouted clavicles
an orchard of pleasure in verdance
     blazingly dim in the moon puddles
writhing     the    muscles of implacable sensation. go to the tiny hall


            and whisper

with Venus. she is grace and smooth and the sea muttering
with the loose wind. fashioned from naked blood.