XXII

Sleep like a baby; awaken fresh like a tiger.

—ARMS OF MORPHEUS PHARMACEUTICALS

In the dream

of the most beautiful countenance of all,

Ilaria del Caretto

sleeps fitfully on a perfect bed

of Carrara marble

accompanied, at her feet,

by the medieval kitsch

of a lap-dog

whose barking

awakens her from her pristine dream

driving her out of

the Fat Man’s embrace

and into the fugue

of the strange loop

Frère Fat Man,

Frère Fat Man,

Dormez-vous?

Dormez-vous?

—Sleep like a tiger; awaken fresh like a baby—