Arcanum XII: after Osip Mandelstam

… Most gracious
Is your head-standing
In heaven
Leaf of the outer limits.

Grave is the perpetual
Rhythm cup
That drips
“Tristia’s” black resin.

Ever near
Is the pilgrim
Undulating
The enigmatic lore…

And tender
Is this earth
Learning
To weep

Without you.

Stefanie Bennett, ex-blues singer and musician, has published several books of poetry, a novel, and a libretto. She also worked with Arts Action For Peace. Of mixed ancestry [Irish/Italian/Paugussett-Shawnee] she was born in Australia in 1945. Read other articles by Stefanie.