The Seraphim walks dismissed, tapered off, in flames,

seraphic among the stars;

zodiacal above outspread kerchiefs,

nights unforeseen,

equipped with ink and linen;

black linen, bird-memorized;

recollections of mountains barely audible

beneath silk-thin spans

A spread-out sensation covers the land;

pleaded, bite-railed

as the lull grips the bladderwrack;

bellows bloated with old absorption

on distant farms,

just one letter away from a noble population,

taking turns

in a lee drifting in from the sea

in warm weather,

like the cat purring and warming

over the obliques, pressed into the armpit;

tight, warm, vibrating

in the spell of blood pressures

The Seraphim, fire-stricken, tongue-chewing,

idly scratches its kerchiefs,

squint-eyed over the nasal bridge, sniffing

at imminent danger

beneath the radar towers, photography-forbidden

up toward Junkeputt's rock fields,

gathering lulls

for autumn storms up ahead,

dosettes filled with motionless air masses;

a hoarded resolve in cowardice's half-words

The Seraphim, singed & unbothered,

wraps itself in darkness

in the stench of slackened gusts,

snow-clad fingertips aching in the distance;

lowers its guard, lies shallow, seraphic

over the kerchiefs, among the stars,

zodiacal