Delphinium ~ a gay garden, revisited
May 2000
‘Till the shadows
on his past
In a separate garden.
Except that we were
laughing
they too
were full silhouettes
in bloom
& not to bother
to intrude on mindless
heads thrown back for
That late brunch
sun mocking itself
meanwhile
a frond noir
Tricking the eye into
Thinking that it is
reseeing a day of youth
the shade of shadows
in shadows
we don’t really remember
even 20 years ago before
the last fall
When everyone was
subsumed
vortex
justanothermonster
million-rooted blood hydra
just another monster
to be melted
who were we but
all of us
to be still here
on this day buried
behind black purple
Siberian irises
splashed with cheap mimosas
or aubergine
sweated morning glories
all flora
staying out for a long
nevermore luxuriant
Lurching
fox gloves
slap each
other with tired lilies
forgetting a century
of black Pagliaci tears)
Spilled over lips
With winds swirls
making us blink vs
red or violet afterburns
to champagne
pink fade
blades
running
once,
leaves of grass
swat and sway
all afternoon
Trying to dance against
the lazy chorus of chive hammers
the entrada of
blurviolet organza
brushing by
Spiked feathers
Tripped over bowl of clover
Whispered over
villainous amaryllis
accidental
camaraderie
loitering
With such beautiful intent
Snapdragons in
snarky venereal poses
Under arc of skid row
rails repopulated with lilac clematis
(ear-ringed, dreadlocked)
And Camille
ignores
enough to
Descend.
On neon Medusa
granite dragon
ignored
unbloomed with doubt
certain of the galaxy
chrysanthemum
if it survives
Root map of the ants
cotillion next door to
The red speck-flies
Amok on mauve silk belles
willow
spiraled in
gnarled beauty
because of the early heat
and forget-me-nots
lost on other endless afternoons
the amber showdown
vaporized our outfits
reassemble from last
night
unforced bloomed
in the twilight
of blue roses
we’ve never
knew the worse
The lovers gone
Friends silenced
out of the
heroic sea
of unwanted souls
What we
were once
& need to be again
Will always be
kept like the
Ghosts of the gardens at Versailles.
Those forgotten blooms
still lost in someone else’s time
no we did not
remember promises not to
fall in love
Have sex
Not to cheat on our lovers
Or press leaves between
The pages of the pact that
We are finally
loving witness for each other
that is our sanctified root
the perpetual motion
on this last day
So the light changed
there is laughter
same larkspur
flying out of Troy
To drown out
cry for the next rain
soaring in this
dank metropolis
so supple
so fetid sometimes
she soars
in the field of
Delphinium
So instead do not
turn our back
On the blinded warriors
going back in
to say goodbye
unforeshadowed
Queens of the Garden
(For Jack & those beautiful men gathered
May 2000)
annual revisit & some replanting to Delphinium, A Gay Garden
