Decree Absolute

                                          . . . pink-

veined blossoms falling, the face, lightly
tattooed, of a god
carved, frowning,
into the bole
of a lime-tree . . . tchack-tchack tsk
tchack-tchack
tsk
laments
a fidgety stonechat, inflating
his rusty breast, his wings and tail
a blur; one
restless, beady eye
fastens on a tiny, green-shelled snail gliding
over a shadowy patch of roots
and drifted petals
and moss.