From the top of the staircase

I saw the dog descending the one thousand and one steps

the old dog taken out for a walk on the leash

the old dog taken out for a walk on his knees in the splendour

of the winter morning

 

he had my eyes, my former eyes, my dark circles

my name written on the dirty collar

with a margin of tenderness, with a hint of ferocity

sliding his shadow along the copper edge of the staircase

 

and in his eyes I have seen the lights of Ellis island

and the silk’s herds spinning the huge wheel of night

in his fading eyes I have seen the Apocalypse spark

and my unpaid debts and my unliveable life

(and God, he had my years and my tears)

the old dog taken out for a walk in the splendour of the last

winter morning

 

pushed up one thousand and one steps, one by one

up to the top and further still

up to the point of

no return.