Decades (Manolo) Poem by guillermo veloso

Angel of death
Angel of sight
Sentinel to the hungry sea
To see the arc of the years
Through this dusty window

Recite a worn Kaddish
Two decades
Dried flowers in my pocket; an
Old mass card and
Picture memories

Memories that stick like plaque
To my skull
Stories that lap like waves
Bring your days
To this dry shore

You are young
On ships and shore
You are old
By ships and sea
You are mute in profile

Your bride
In gowns and mirrors
Your love
In flowers and silk
Your soul-keeper in her silent keep

A kiss goodbye
On the day of the fool
A kiss from above
In the silence of dreams
A kiss on the sweat-dewed brow

And this morning
As grey as the tide
Comes and goes
And your voice as
Bold as gulls and sea; comes and goes

These are coins
That the years have kept
These are the shadows of tears spent
We are all memory and dream
We are all minutes in the decades