In Romantic Eras

desert nomads in winter
high rise skyscrapers in
drifting snow
old stories about books
and their covers
and the old brown shoe
and the mystery
of the hegemony.

the builder and the barber
the sailor and the
guitarist in the alley
with the sad songs
that hold you fast
forever in love
like those couples
in romantic eras
long past.

the shadow and the candle
the priests and vandals
those men that come in the night
set us aflame
and leave with the daylight
and darkness shades
what safety we create
rewriting our
own legacy.