Little International Waltz
(After Federico García Lorca)

I’ll dance with you in Vienna
& anywhere else, if we’re being honest.
 
Cold floor, socked feet, pot boiling.
Etta James hopefully singing
           at last, at last.
 
Because I love you three times over
I play the same song again.
Because I love you
– mi amor, corazón, vida mía –
I read the same book again.
 
Riverhead disguise &
hyacinth on my shoulder,
I will hold your hair
in my broken hands.
I will kiss the life
that seeps out of you at night.
I will read the notes
handwritten on your back.
 
Let me lay my lips to rest
between the bruises on your thighs.
Let me,
grave & violin, lead this waltz.