we adorn ourselves
in sunlight and shadow,
in the ephemerality of air.
all around us flow inspirations
for motifs, patterns and prints,
the finest of weavings.
as subtle as a breath
a cool sun dapples designs onto silk.
as light as a breeze
a fern-frond decorates stone.
we play at ombres chinoises:
touched by a momentary palm tree,
a temporary trellis,
a latticework sigh,
we linger in the stillness
of a summer afternoon,
where colour, line and texture
are as muted as memories
of Mediterranean idylls,
a bohemian poets daydream.
dozing in the wafting shade
of exotic opiate flowers,
we indulge in a nostalgic whiff
of Fitzgerald’s Riviera at it’s inspired height,
of Bowles’s Marrakech,
of a life of slow pleasures,
late nights, lazy mornings.
between the beginning of time
and the end of it,
we collect these dancing,
glancing moments
of sun-striped shadow-play
and live as sybarites.
BLOOM DECEMBER 2007
