After RB

Every part of this glorious city

were brooding monuments

rusted over with scathing eyes,

gargoyles chop-licking in

view of my flesh, collapsing

then folding down on me, every block

felt like a razor slit, the heat like a ton pressing

down on top of me, how every beautiful thing:

its faces, its new lips and charming smiles

thoughts about divulging in them

a betrayal, these porticoes and columns,

These brilliant corners web of hand, hill of palm,

Almond of eye, round of nose, dug into me, even

its awesome sunset over Templo Debod

was a pool of agony and now, a wine glass

of radical honesty to flush out the sty

of ego and I’ve taken back me,

Now this city is a vibrant flower

In bloom, a new day after a good rest,

The caress of someone new on my jawline,

It’s a sweet hello, the soft kiss of spring fulfilling its

life waking up around

you is a glorious gift.