In Ravenna with My Sister

*For LR*



 



At first



I saw just one light



crisp blue



 



line, nearly



skylike, there, high above



the rest



 



of the stone,



unkept, a bright slice



of the



 



fine mosaic



sets, unstressed. I reached out:



*Hey, look*



* *



*up, excuse me*



*there, look up.*



 



She looked



like an exceptional criminal,



or a cranial



 



angel, or



like something of a lazy



hunter with



 



eyes unmet.



Faintly, she ground her



shoulders



 



down one



by one, falling taut: *Look*



*up, please,*



* *



*this is a very rare*



*picture of the earth.*



 



Then, I saw so



many more, as if the blue slice



said, ‘at once



 



go’ or, ‘time



for vespers,’ and all of the shy



lines, the shier



 



colors, burst



forth and up, untaming, a light



and limited



 



take off not



to space of course but to the very top



and back:* Look*



* *



*up, my sister,*



*look up, my sister.*



 



Suddenly I saw



that all of the lines were gone, even the sky-



like first lit



 



slice, gone, swift



as a storm’s turn, and in the dark



she looked



 



just like the



poet, but so much stonier than



stone, a wax-



 



ing statue for



all beautiful men and stone, so I looked



up: *Silhouette,*



* *



*linger me dimly,*



*then extinguish.*