Spera octava – spera stellata
The circle of stars, a silvered scum, a foam, a detritus,
A flotsam of teleologies, nub-ends of endless parties,
A whispered recital from dust-gnawed cities.
Shall we savour their strangeness, the fruit of centuries?
A wish
The tomb
The roof
The old man.
The tent
Al Tard, the end.
The apes
The south gate
A pillar
The old folks.
The raven’s neck
The falling cross
The long sandbank
The wolf.
Al Kaid, the eggshells
The embracer
The green hill
The changer.
Kakkab Mulu-izi, the star-man of fire.
The magician
The golden well
The spectre’s head
The first frog.
Al baluh, the city.
The azure dragon
Crown of the forehead
The southern sea
Announcer of invasion on the border.
Narrow cloudy train of female stars
Golden cluck hen and her five sisters.
Temennu, the foundation stone
Al wasat, the central one
Saptar shayar, the seven anchorites
The white of the poplar tree.
San Tsze, three instructors
Antasurra, the upper sphere
Drag-blod, the fire tail.
Pivot of the planets
The nail
The bright one
Ishtar
Bethulah
The defenceless
The virgin’s girdle
The lady of heaven
Taygeta
Atrami
Segin
Aludra.
And so we fly past the whispering lights,
souls and stories,
wished-for and longings,
The indicators of time and movement,
a slightest of lost taste,
A melting of bright ice.
Silence returns.
simonhlilly 