REVERBERATIONS (excerpt)

Hail, Anachronism of another Age

beckoning again some golden, distant past --

that fallacy of idle dreamers

who, discontented with their present state,

invoke utopias unsurpassed--

through time's misty haze

and memories forgot.

But truly, thou should be at ease

amidst the splendour of Lorenzo's court…

commissions of immortal works.

Oh, were thou a model for Donatello!

Or grander still, heroic Michelangelo,

preserving for posterity the face of David

and thy nobility and grace.

But Raphael -- of gentler fame --

would need to recompense thy charm

and wandering Leonardo

paint the mystery of thy mouth.

Enough! Such vain, affected phrases

fail to capture You (not Thou).

Esoteric images less than flatter

what is real and now and yet

I know not what is.

You are but a phantasy, a distant mirage,

Here…………but unapproachable.