riviera in the mind

the villas close as it turns warm.

the air is dry but is cool in the evening

and the water, amethyst


a tiny beach covered in seaweed four-feet thick


this is where she wanted to be

but could never return to / even / in memory

soul- flickering, white smoke, fragrance

or tremulous transparent sphere etc


(no, too ethereal, - too blunt an image).


imagine instead a plant within, hardy yet


to grow it needs the sunlight of your laughter


and equally: the water of your tears.

the last man on earth raised his hand and held out a flower.


he gazed up at the skyscrapers uninhabited for so long. then at the sky.


it was the millennial anniversary of the dying of the sun.


the stars came closer.


they said they were tired of having to be still so long.


they told him it would be a relief when he too left.