If it Be Now (The Immortal Victor)
Quo Vadis by Dario Poli
If it Be Now
(The Immortal Victor)
You talked about a future
where we would join
you said you wanted us
to be unbroken.
But I am moment
to moment
living in the now
The future only
comes as presence
I never see beyond;
I hear them say, Next year
this sapling grows a tree;
This time next spring
you’ll be as strong as me;
This time next year
the carnage ends…
It all sounds faint
like distant music
played out of time.
I have no future tense.
But I’ve known
moments spent with you
that we made pleasure
I press them into Planck time
or stretch them out
to mate the midnight hour…
And you’re here now
I hear the wine-ripe voice
caress my present want
as memory sways back
when it rang out in Gothic rage
like brick on iron —
If there’s no future
what’s love worth, you charged,
it’s transient. Your future’s dead.
Your love is dead.
You are a callous killer.
Your hand knifed down and sliced the air.
But that was then
a moment no more now
for now I see your eye gleam hard
a blazing sliver
I see a scimitar flash in the sun
cut stubble down to clear the ground,
It bolts up eagle-eyed, your blaze
beak edged sharp
like a razor smiling
as it shaves the air;
it finds me now
It slits my breast
the blade twists slow
doting slow
it pleads to yield
me to its future need.
It seeks to turn
rage inside out
to reclaim love…
I am fixed
now at one
with stabbing pain;
how much rage
must be wreaked
how many
moments braved
to reclaim love?
This moment is
eternal presence
there is no blunt-mouth
bullet burning my heart
Instead a scimitar
to shave doomed air
and summon legend
as it’s a storied art
that makes rage
twist its blade to love again
to make us legend, yes
I’m joined with you
enduring in this moment
I have no future tense.
        Mara Lemanis
Mara Lemanis
Mara Lemanis
Biography: Mara Lemanis is a literary scholar. Her essays have been selected for 20th CENTURY LITERARY CRITICISM and are included in undergraduate student textbooks in the U.S.
She has worked as an archivist for Historical Preservation and with the IRC, assisting refugees in Oakland, California.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and positions expressed within this guest article are those of the author Mara Lemanis alone and do not represent those of the Marbella Marbella website. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to Mara Lemanis and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with the author.
