ELEONORA

for hands she hath non, nor eyes, nor
feet, nor golden Treasure of hair

(front view)

her hair is like cardboard
and like a fish
her two eyes are
like a dove
her mouth
is like civil war
(in Spain)
her neck is a red
horse
her hands
are
like the voice
of the dense
forest
her two breasts are
like my painting
her belly is
the tale
of Belthandros and Chrysantza
the tale
of Tobias
the tale
of
the ass
the wolf and the fox
her sex
is
shrill whistling
in the calm
of midday
her thighs are
the last
flickerings
of the modest joy
of steam-rollers
her two knees
Agamemnon
her two adorable
tiny
feet
are the green
tele-
phone with the red
eyes

(rear view)

her hair
is
an oil lamp
that burns
in the morning
her shoulders
are
the hammer
of
my desires
her back
is the
sea's
spectacles
the plough
of deceptive
ideograms
whirs
sorrowfully
at her waist
her buttocks
are
fish-glue
her thighs
are
like
a thunderbolt
her tiny heels
light
the
morning's
bad
dreams

and after all
she is
a woman
half
hippocampus
and half
necklace
perhaps
she's even
part pine
and part
elevator

Translated by David Connolly