first his breathing then his pupils

I watch his mouth

its furrows its swells

slight circle of his irises

the black hole a tube

he sees me

impulsion

an implicit programmatics

ascension

the facades the borough

remanence of Rio 

a yard a garden

the staircase

winding

its gradations

compelling

the maples

alongside

the false acacias

figuration of caresses

swirled rumour of a fountain 

faint sound

metallic taste of the city

a magnetism

from palate to nostrils

infra-resonance

warm silver

low table

the flakes of fish

air under the studio ceiling 

a loge

we make acquaintance

summer solstice alters the sky

we deflect curiosity by foreseeing questions 

private

spheres

spontaneous revelation

the ineffable

freshness of a stream

are we already naked

bared

we expose ourselves

fluidity

gravity

propensity

the charm

the intimacy

premise of a banquet

Hephaistos

Aristophanes

vestiges dionysiae vertiges

Empedocles

happiness

tenor of futures put to the test

at ease

we name

great loves

inflections

decades

les fidélités

promises made

offenses injuries miracles

the enduring friendships

gaie santé

current genealogy

virtual group portrait

numerous

already

he stands up

draughts

the bamboo imbibe their fill of rainwater

transfer of delectation

euphoria

temptation reparation

congruency

catalysis

paradoxical privilege

incursion

permissiveness

we draw close

to kiss

convergence

Erín Moure is a poet and poetry translator. Most recently: Chus Pato’s The Face of the Quartzes (Veliz Books, 2021) from Galician, and Chantal Neveu’s This Radiant Life (which won the 2021 Governor General’s Award for translation from French and the Nelson Ball Prize). A new book of poetry, Theophylline: A Poetic Migration via the modernisms of Rukeyser, Bishop, Grimké, has just been published by House of Anansi. https://erinmoure.mystrikingly.com Photo Credit: E. Sampedrin