IV

2 0 00

IV

Once in a mezzanino

The starry ceiling

Vaulted an unimaginable family

Bird-like abortions

With human throats

And WisdomвАЩs eyes

Who wore lamp-shade red dresses

And woolen hair

One bore a baby

In a padded porte-enfant

Tied with a sarsenet ribbon

To her gooseвАЩs wings

But for the abominable shadows

I would have lived

Among their fearful furniture

To teach them to tell me their secrets

Before I guessed

вАФSweeping the brood clean out