let the age hang itself! we've had
four marvelous days together
no news reports only music
& no serious discussions


plenty of wine the best
from the islands
white
falerno & ischian
& lacrima cristi
we've made up
for months
of loneliness
hard work
nastiness
of 'superiors'


we may not live
very well or long
our mistakes are perhaps too great
to bear correction
at this midpoint
of our lives (you're somewhat younger)
surely too great
to make up for the lengths we go
to hide them

e cosi...that's
how it goes



but at least
we're ahead of the game

we've stolen a march
on the dead the herd



if the return to grayness
sharp tempered weapons
of those who force life
into corners
is more than we can bear
remember this
the wine
the ladder
of stars that climb
vesuvius outside
my window
the waves
banging into smooth
tufa caves



& the opera
as we lay together
remember

-Harold Norse-