The Wishes That Lingered Poem by Robert Rorabeck

Comely failures who fade in time,
Bent with her soft skirts, brown stems in
The street-
What ribbon of what handlebar do you come
From, tasseled- brown skin,
Muse of honey- laughing dulcet:
I knew of the visions you planted in me using
The teeth of coral snakes-
Soft poisons, you took a year to mollify me-
That is what it takes,
While the sky curdles as the flies take to
Abandoned venison-
And the memories of your coital skeleton overran
My lamentable garrison- we failed each other
Together, as your family
Burned for a little while like a lighthouse crippled
By the sea- just as long as I remember you,
Until the wishes that lingered were finally so wished
Out of me.