Wellington Square, and a flourish of wings sends
a shiver through water that rings in crescent pulses

This is a heart among many hearts,
that teem with the steps of the living

In streams they come pacing, purpose
in eye, hurry the grave is waiting.

The droplets fly around us, as the
crumbs fly at pigeons, those interminable
rats of the air you keep feeding

Croissant dregs, until the day you cry:
"What are these winged miracles?

that abound my head in pirouette twirls
ascending up the azure sky?"

"I remember them in the cities of my youth,
when we danced in the fountains at dawn,

to Heroes, with dervish swirls, lost, lost
in the eyes of those fading limestone girls"

This is a heart among many hearts,
that teem with the steps of the living

In streams they come pacing, purpose
in eye, hurry the grave is waiting.

In the kitchen, much later, I sang
the Oddity alone, until the queen heard me
from the wings.

Then she stepped out, into the light,
to laugh at the showman, and grins.

Another star is added to the constellation
high above us, but a little brighter now

Live she says, not through your words
but through love and all that it brings.