That Beauty, This Beast
It is that moment
in a story or a poem
when he goes
for the first time, alone,
to her room
and the fantasies
that have seen you through
your life begin.
There is the locked door,
white sheets upon
a single bed,
fireglow and footprints
in the snow all over Europe
as though crossing these frontiers
this touching overcomes
inheritance and language.
There are the words
you cannot hear
(there is always something
before the first thing
you remember) and the
beckoning which disturbs
like an interrupted dream.
You do not enter
(the spider is on the wall,
the eyeless teddy-bear
by your side): barefoot
upon the same cold stair
you strain to hear
the breathing of an Eden
you did not know
and cannot share.
Page(s) 30
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