All night you lay curled in the shell of my arms
I held you as one holds a precious cup
For kissing your lips I could not sleep
When dawn came I was still caressing your hair

I did not want them to come. I wanted to tell you
Whose dark dress is made of crimson rockets and flags
How deeply my heart is moved by your marvelous protest-
The beauty and terror of your wish for death

But they came with chairs
They came bringing oranges and wires
I could not tell you what was in my heart
We could not even make love as we desired

Now in a time of dolphins and westward sailing
When the sea has unloosed the green vines of your breath
I make these words in your praise, Jane, all my joy.

Long after you have forgotten me,
When your breasts have forgotten the taste of my mouth
And your ears the cry of my caring voice,
I, in that singing noght, will remember with greeting
A girl made of lions, ferias and dark flowers
Whose heart beat like a bird upon its cage of bone.
A flame
Leaps in the tripod.