Smithereens Press Chapbooks The Sea Path by Ciarán O'Rourke | Page 28

Burying Turnus
(Juturna speaking, his sister; Virgil’s Aeneid, Book XII, ll.872-884)
Could I slow the sun, retain
the heat of seconds in the air,
let shadows tremble
round the dial, by art,
or skill, or barely human need,
to hold you here, my brother,
far from the gnash
of falling wings, from Death
the monster, and his calling lair,
to hold you back, brother,
from the gap you enter,
this darkness you’ve become – but how?
And how could a sister,
a nymph like me, a grieving girl,
a soul to flowing mosses
and to floods, how can I,
immortal as the rain, as swept
and washed with loss of you,
how will I beat the earth
to ease your limbs,
how heal the stillness

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