ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GARCIA LORCA

 

ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GARCIA LORCA

For the assassinated poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, incomparable,

Lyric poet and playwright of Spain…

 

Moon my moon

Over the collapsed playhouse

Mise en scene

Moon of melon green

Hung among rafters

Floating above the cherubim

What have they done with him

What have they done with Garcia Lorca

Flee Madrid my soul they told him

Granada too

Elude the shadows for all of them

Have come for you

In the fabled hour their searchlights search for you

Like a razor’s edge parting the night from the night

And it is all the angels can do

To avoid the sight of the execution

In the hour foretold in the gypsy hour

In the hour where the cut bird cries out no more

In the white hour where the Holy Virgin cries

Garcia Lorca, what have they done to you

Your moon floats counterclockwise

And drowns in all the fountains

and she is so wrought

That she weeps lilies and carnations

Into a sea of fragrance like nard, like myrhh

and mourns for awhile

so that the summer skies also lose their blue.

In memory of you

In lamentation for you.

And even now

To the present hour

Ahora en este momento mismo.

mary angela douglas 19 june 2024;20 june 2024