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