def poetry

up from the south at break of day
in your arms was still delight
when the hours of day are numbered
among the smoke and fog of a december afternoon
i saw him once before
you are beautiful and faded
did you ever see an alligator
it was the autumn of the year
days endeared to every muse
a blue-black nubian plucking oranges
old wine to drink
i go my way complacently
i make my shroud, but no one knows
along a river-side