3.12.2022

come out and gaze

Even if it were true, 
Even if I were dead and buried in Verona,
I believe I would come out and wash my face 
In the chill spring. 
I believe I would appear 
Between noon and four, when nearly 
Everybody else is asleep or making love, 
And all the Germans turned down, the motorcycles 
Muffled, chained, still. 
 
Then the plump lizards along the Adige by San Giorgio 
Come out and gaze, 
Unpestered by temptation, across the water. 
I would sit among them and join them in leaving 
The golden mosquitoes alone. 
Why should we sit by the Adige and destroy 
Anything, even our enemies, even the prey 
God caused to glitter for us 
Defenseless in the sun? 
We are not exhausted. We are not angry, or lonely, 
Or sick at heart. 
We are in love lightly, lightly. We know we are shining, 
Though we cannot see one another. 
The wind doesn't scatter us, 
Because our very lungs have fallen and drifted 
Away like leaves down the Adige, 
Long ago. 
 
We breathe light. 
 

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