IMPROVISATION # 75
BAUDELAIRE'S LAMENT
(1821-1867)

Days grow slender
in a lapse of mimicry
from a recurrent relapse
on open windows
of an opaque past
after your insomnia unwinds
with a pencil drawing
stenciled from Delacroix
behind Persian blinds
swiping your wintry lips
on day bed blankets
with undelivered kisses
but it's only childhood
answering in the dark
you light a candle
in the shadowy breeze
dismissing the regretted
languished words
you have vetted
as your language wakes
you up in sparks for a poet
by birds chirping
on the bark of trees.