William and Maud

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          I am haunted by numberless islands...
                                                                      —WB Yeats

Walking by the shore at dusk, air
leaden with a faith in words.

William looks up, says
Maud, the sky is full of dragonflies.

She stares beyond the sea.

             That's nice, Bill. But I've a kingdom to burn.
              Your bugs will be dead by morning.

Words are a piper, he says. When we die,
our ghosts will haunt the waves and
young men will lift a pint to
wandering beauty.

              We're inside-out, says Maud.
              I want to drown Dublin in
              English blood and you,
              so much like a woman with
              your poetry and your mysteries.

I will summon ancient warriors to your heel.
Then you will love me.

Maud stares beyond the rim of the sea.

             Summon me powder and horses, Bill.

His study quiet as dust,
a candle's nub
races the dark to dawn.
William sits, vanquished by the
sacred rose and the guns of love.