Santo Domingo
By Paul Cameron Brown
In the crypt with Columbus
in the crypt with Giovanni
of Genoa, the diaspora driven Jew;
watching flecks of the cathedral floor
jade-eyed and mica afraid
yawning down brown the abyss, his skeletal coffin
thin accae wood,
phlegm coloured
flamed ointment
of the saints
in holy water
bridging the little centuries.
2
Serpentine heavens
in coiled stars
heaving like passion fruit
hung down piano wire.
3
Meteors douse the light
of black stems,
eye holes cut of old Spanish
sailors; thin ghosts
plundering night.
4
Melange tableaux
peut-tre les toiles
sont oiseaux.