The Golden Summer Poem by Justin Houseman

Insanam uatem aspicies, quae rupe sub ima
Fata canit foliisque notas et nomina mandat
Quaecumque in foliis descripsit carmina uirgo
Digerit in numerum atque antro seclusa relinquit:
Illa manent immota locis neque ab ordine cedunt.
Uerum eadem, uerso tenuis cum cardine uentus
Impulit et teneras turbauit ianua frondes,
Numquam deinde cauo uolitantia prendere saxo
Nec reuocare situs aut iungere carmina curat:
Inconsulti abeunt sedemque odere Sibyllae.
Hic tibi ne qua morae fuerint dispendia tanti,
Quamuis increpitent socii et ui cursus in altum
Uela uocet, possisque sinus implere secundos,
Quin adeas uatem precibusque oracula poscas
Ipsa canat uocemque uolens atque ora resoluat.
Illa tibi Italiae populos uenturaque bella
Et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem
Expediet, cursusque dabit uenerata secundos.

October rains so cruelly on
The wet red land, with leaves
And acorns, bringing forth more
Invaders to dry and dry the soil,
Till more rain falls. Autumn caught
Us, unaware, and we watched
The Fall with love. I dreamed of
Acme and patchouli, then you, the
American Spirit. Green tea
Pumps my heart, and ice shivers
The slivers of straws down my
Spine until rich Sidonian works
Pour into the night from me,
Foaming until Venus approaches
Rose-covered shores on a shell
Like pearl, blown by the favorable
Breeze in my direction with high tide,
With a ringing in my ears by low tide.

I embrace her and the bark,
The still-green laurel with beating
From her chest. She lifts her roots,
Dropping foot over foot to the ground
Till the leaves flow as hair that
The roots can leap inside, shrouded
Inside hiding from the rain as the
Horror, the Horror resonates on
Every drop of the rain with the
Leaves splattering in reds while
Red blood flickers and the blue
Sky flickers with Sirens singing
On a black rock. “I warn you, I warn,
You must come to me. I’ll give you
That which you desire if only you
Look.” And the flashes make me
Seize with my teeth biting down
Till my tongue flashes red too.

If only I could find Sermio and take
You there, we could rest by the sea
Without a dark umbrella shading
Our light. How the sand would
Sift, from the artful bust through my
Hand before my eyes. The obscured
Emotion would sift through my hand
Just the same, and I’d want you to
Know. The kretek smoke fills my
Mouth, and I can taste the Spirit
From your rose lips. Your tongue
Lashes like the Harpy’s, and your
Beak! The smell is so sweet!
Pull my skin tighter with your
Silk talons. Pull it over the head
Of a djembe and beat me
Amongst the circle. Let my agony
Resound over grasses through the arch.

Do not flee to Rome without me.
Go gentle. Go gentle. Du calme.
Du calme. Adieu. Bon soir mon ami.