Albatross tanka sequence

albatross

“y hay cuerpos que no deben repetirse en la aurora”

                        Oda a Walt Whitman, Federico Garcia Lorca

there was a beginning

an invitation to play pool,

the maneuver

to have another beer

on our first night together

there was a middle

complications—a need to

see you on my bed

running your hands through

the carapace of my skin

there was an end

A Farewell to Arms

of forgotten names

the last clown in a parade

taking down the marquee