Altitude

You’ve just died in my arms,

But suddenly it seems we’re eternal



Cali boys, Afro-haired cohorts in crime,

Racing through intricate lattices



Of quince and lemon tree shadows,

Corridors of Queen Anne’s lace—



On the skip-church Sunday you dubbed me

“Sir Serious” instead of Cyrus—



Then, swift as a deer’s leap, we’re devotees

Of goatees and showy Guatemalan shirts,



Intoxicated lovers for a month

On the northwest coast of Spain—



Praising the irrepressible sounds

Of a crusty Galician bagpiper



On La Coruña’s gripping finisterre,

Then gossiping and climbing



(Like the giddy Argonauts we were)

The lofty, ancient Roman lighthouse,



All the way—Keep on truckin’, we sang—

To the top of the Tower of Hercules—  

Credit

Copyright © 2019 by Cyrus Cassells. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 30, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“Written in Spain, this ecstatic, life-flashing-before-your-eyes elegy is dedicated to the memory of D. Barbiery. It’s from a new volume, Is There Room for Another Horse on Your Horse Ranch? forthcoming from Four Way Books.”

Cyrus Cassells