Incense-misted eyes

throats baulked with pride,

scars reddened by droplets

a hand wiping spittle

from the Breviary’s page;

Drought-mouthed elegies

to ribbons burdened

by weights of guilt,

gleaming handle farewells

accompanied by Bach

to the warrior hearts

swollen with longing,

marking time with

the limping clock;

Yearning, yearning

for visions

wrought into maps,

iron-ore mountains

forged into Tanks

and nights of gasoline

when the Sea

of Ages parted

and Schnapps was Wagner

in our heads.