do not fall in love with a God
when they say forever
it is the duration of vanity only
out of my breathless ossuary
these slow seconds
turn within themselves
a tapestry made of stone
Eos asked him to make me eternal
we were to be beautiful together
a hand aside the mouth of Zeus
his incremental curse of immortality
a hover in the white noise
of this bitter tea
once to kiss the feet of stars
no longer she breaks upon me
I do not live I do not die
locked in this closet
talking a babble of dispossession
my words hear themselves
the momentary visit of light after night
occasionally to shine on my withering
where I age in shadow forever waiting
without the strength to hold a stutter of lamp
First published in Mediterranean Poetry ed: Anders Dahlgren August 2019
Unstill Mosaics The Book of Love, Loss, and Longing 2019
James Walton Poetry 