Day I
M, Laura, Beatrice,
Amoretti and Stella
have rented a flat
together.
There is a skylight
to release
the eternal beams of glory,
but no taps.
They sit in a
circle singing
hymns and admiring
one another’s sheen.
Day II
I’ve retired
to a treehouse
outside the wall, with
Dante, Spenser
Astrophil, Petrarch. They
all have mood rings
but they won’t let me have one
(bastards).
Spenser’s changes like a disco ball.
They’re thinking of
making a rule that you have to have
a ring to come into the fort.
Day III
The walls around the tower
of our loves have no
doors. Just
balconies, windows.
There are a lot of birds.
Laura looks anemic when she sits
in the sun (through
glass).
Day IV
They’ve had
to build a
men’s room for M.
Everyone is upset.
Day V
This morning
in the sunshine
Amoretti came
to the window to hang
out her laundry. Ornate robes
on the clothesline.
A deerskin muff.
Day VI
Laura and Beatrice
are not speaking
to Stella (something
about harts, hunts,
a comb). Needless
to say, they have
never spoken to M.
Day VII
I played chess
with the boys all
day long. So
many blocks. Amoretti
is growing her hair
so she can join us.
Day VIII
The women slit
their wrists, draw cherubs
in blood,
heal two hours later. M
won’t join in; he
is reasonably nervous
about his immortality.