from Venezia to Maribor
Welcome (Venezia)

Anodyne, cross legged sitting
airing grievances committing
either consummated or permitted
out lawed, out loved
crying foul out livid loud

The silence stung me
welting back still swelling
conceiving, deceiving
sometimes grieving
then believing all or nothing
conceding memories
to memoirs
automata to biography

explaining this aura's crowded spectrum
of rainbows and sanctums
edging life's contested borders

Is this the me, the he, that is not
the we
relieved by bird song sirens
trumpeting the day?

Or, is it not your belly thin laughter
stroking the air with undulating waves
is it not a theory of the "I"
to cast stones and pass by
as seasons whirl between the days
out cast and overstayed?
Bonjourno, Venezia.

3/4/02

m. dunlop
poetry