Of Your Beauty

(approach)
wearing robes of solemnity
my senses stand erect
this moment I am solitary

as you watch me, eyeless
observe a brutal face
I need silence, I need to be alone

look at me
my bony fingers wrapped in rags
I am pursued, and love is withered
my eyes will see if my spirit lives

the wind shouts its commands
the earth has stopped my ears
I dare not raise my hand
to hold the stones
around my throat

I have heard of your beauty
and would sacrifice my days
these midnight wanderings
and vain laments

pour upon me
a sympathetic glance
my splendour has gone
you will find me face down
let those days pass
in sorrowful procession
among leafless groves
may a leaf unfold

I cry with rage
to be remembered with pity
let the leaves unfold
where the dead leaves have rotted
ask me what I suffer
years of fruitless clinging
to enfeebled arms
that wave a benevolent saluted

I have heard of your beauty
pursue me, beckon me
raise your hand
to cast the stones from my throat
In the earths dark entrails
my glazed eyes close forever
but my eyes will see
if my spirit lives.