Savonarola

Putrid water
quenches a black thirst
secret visions
frustratingly human
invigorate and kill
defy His will
and endure millennia--

The ashes that rise
from the Holy flames
of Piazza Signoria
thrill our bones:

Vibrant oils of glorious myths
and beautiful heresies
proud sentences birthing naked ideas
that pose contraposto like David in the sunlight
without fear
without shame
mingle in embers above Firenze
with Savonarola the Devout
without fear
without shame
his bold flesh
frustratingly human
suffocated and burnt black

And our animation
our invigoration
our quickened breath
gives life to the fire
rising with the ash
above Firenze

Joining contentedly
in monastic silence
a knowing procession of life,
glorious myths and beautiful heresies
bold devotion and quickened breath
marching south along an ancient gray route
to cool in the mysterious Arno
before a familiar current carries them to sea.

Unpublished, 2010

Gio reads "Savonarola" on YouTube