Ai-elman, from the two rivers
these old novels
said to hold the whole trope
truth and hope crushed to trust

ever molten, cold mercurial wall
medium
meditating time and space

Stories. To die for, others
we live for.

Which are yours, the *** I rode in on asks, with
a twitch of an ear, here, here

listen old man, if we willed we
came this far
today, how far did we get to morrow,

for oh,
so many of those are behind us now,
now we know what old is all about.