Thunderstruck

(for E Scott Alighieri)

Dante and Beatrice is a painting dated 1883 by the artist Henry Holiday that is on display in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England.

But in my opinion it was not an honourable
injury that I sustained when I fell in love
With this slip of a girl. Lightning cannot fathom
Her and neither can I.
Monsieur, if you are armed, do not show your weapon
I find love completely unarmed.
Feeling opened the way for my eyes to reach to the core of her,
her tears ushered in a passage of events that elude me now and forever.
It was the day that the sun discoloured me,
pity became a factum of inaction,
life was taken and returned, I did not look at myself,
my eyes bind me to you.
Time does not shelter me from repercussions
contra colpi d’Amor: I went on living
secure, elegantly, without suspicion; my troubles abated.
I tend the garden
in the commune dolor s’incominciaro.

Tom Waits — “Hold On” — YouTube

© John E Marks 2021