ombra mai fu cara ed soave più

[axiom]

she wears the snake visibly

scarf coiled around shoulders

reptile's teeth rummage through her beliefs

the bloody mouth hurts

under left clavicle





[theorem of symbiosis]

one cannot live with her nor without

she is a capricious uncomfortable lover

hard to ravage

she wears long close-fitting dresses of stinging nettle

stitched down to ankles

with cleavages tied into a Gordian knot

under earlobe





be warned: there is only one possible choice

love or hate her snake

with the same uncontrollable passion





[proof by contradiction]

and if summer absurdly decides to burst in flames

staining its lips with crimson 

and faking a syncope on pillows of leaves 

then there is nothing left to prove, just sing

pietà signore/ volgi i tuoi sguardi sopra di me

and hope that her fall will last until your spring





[corollary]

how time comes empty and leaves loaded

she sighs turning on the car engine

starts violently and drives on same streets 

lifting in air the same flock of pink sparrows

at semaphore the snake turns red in her retina

she brakes thinking that Advil did not have any effect

on the molar erupting from wisdom's gum

anything is better than winter

at heart

© Luminita Suse