Baci Baci Baci
A garden
late spring, honeysuckle and lazy birds
heavy with the round scent
of tuberoses and jungle gardenia.
There is a man
in boots that make his thighs
look lethal with a whip
no spurs
medieval sorrow in his eyes
or around the mouth, maybe.
He is dangerous
in this place he has
the fertility of steel.
There is a woman
in a vine green habit her
veins are purple, her blue
eyes. She is blonde
though sometimes brunette:
“My horse is lamed
I was riding, I...”
And — still in the heavy air
they push each other down
like dogs with fleas
under the bushes, in them.
The camera pans to the nearest tree
the cat approaches like a panther.
She is also in boots
like an empress
who loves horses.
The man puts on spurs:
there is combat
his knightly despair
her deathly power.
The witch burns, finally —
the lamed horse returns.
Love you,
Lanita
Copyright Credit: Rachel Sherwood, "Baci Baci Baci" from Mysteries of Afternoon and Evening. Copyright © 1981 by David Trinidad. Reprinted by permission of David Trinidad.
Source: Mysteries of Afternoon and Evening (Sherwood Press/Yarmouth Press, 1981)