"The Meteor"
To Arthur Rimbaud

EMILY ROSKO

"Flash... of a meteor, ignited without motive than
his own presence, descended alone and dying."

 

A barren sky once pregnant, sick with wide-
Eyed voyeurs dreaming in belly round--
Burst! condemning all Poets to the ground
'Til lightning struck and a youthful heart then cried,--
"O sudden desire! What sensations collide!"
Come child prophet! tender your violent sound
Of utter beauty, senseless truth abound,
To break through Life by graceful suicide.

You were light dividing darkness, face-
less meteor full of visions; you soar
Alone through endless lengths of time and space
To breathe softly your swollen verse, or
You vanish in morning's dawn without a trace
And leave one naked, shivering, wanting more.

 

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