The Ambassador

Page 6 of 8

The Ambassador

More than a friend
the Ambassador
no go-between
life and death
knowing how to let go.
Make the matter known
at the court of the king,
- life
inspired.

The Prince is waiting.
He knows how to die.
Ask him,
he'll smile.

The king's forests are withering.
The Ambassador tells him how to let go.
The king is deaf
at the appointed hour.

Hardly moved by comings and goings
the moon
through layers of clouds,
the king
through layers untouched.

Each breath recorded in the archives
the king
bending over backwards.
The Ambassador
makes the matter known,
- life.

The Prince is waiting,
the moment of a man.
More than a friend
the Ambassador.
He knows how to die.
Ask him,
he'll smile.
The king withers at the appointed hour
with golden stockings,
pomp and circumstance,
fear.

The Prince errect
at the appointed hour.
The Ambassador makes the matter
known
at the court of the king,
- uninterpreted.

Mirror image,
arthritic, misshapen,
the king
clutching.
Tears flowing,
the king is blind
at the appointed hour.

A rider dismounting
at the court of the king.
The Ambassador makes the matter
known,
- the Countess.

The Prince aflame
at the appointed hour.
The Countess knows how to make love
like life and death.
She'll smile
if you ask her.

The king cannot sleep.
The Ambassador tells him how to let go,
the sun.
The Prince sings an aria,
darkness.
The Countess is waiting
wrapped in fur.

Life marked out
down through the forests,
breathless
the king is ill
at the appointed hour.

Not understanding,
attacked
at the moment of greatest weakness
from within,
clothes rent
by the darkness
from within.
The king dies every day
at the appointed hour.

The Ambassador
makes the matter known
- life
authenticated.

The Countess like deepest water
at the appointed hour.
The Prince like life and death
the moment of a man.
The Ambassador sings an aria,
the sun
the moon.

The Countess aflame,
the Prince deep flowing
in unison
at the appointed hour
the moment of greater life
in unison
to let go
separate
smile and die
the Countess, the Prince.