“Human teeth contain a kind of poison, for they dim the brightness of a mirror when bared in front of it and also kill the fledglings of pigeons.” – Pliny The Elder, “Natural History” 79 CE
So feckless to smile at birds along the river,
Of course we knew that we were wanton
Splitting innocence with inured jaws,
Hawking the feathers caught in our teeth.
Unable to face our hunger, plunder,
Our eyes dim our necessity,
Denying our faces, averting our senses,
We leap into the decadent watercourse
White and fanged, the rapids of history
Tears us to ruins
Rise, we sink to rise again;
Birds chatter at our decay.
The currents of time wash out our bones
The sun pristine over the primal estuary
Stripped of all but naked truth
Ancient words take flight
Magnificat, the mother song of creatures,
St. Francis delirious with canticle
Counterpoint, drifting up and downstream,
Reflecting sinners, spawning saints
Conspirators: qbit, Jilly
qbit’s Renga Challenge – We Were Wanton
For Jilly’s November Casting Bricks