A Burden Against the Wilderness of the Sea Dismissing the rumor of man . Here, brittle penance gasps for air . . . . . in this place where prophets recede . . . . . . to shadows of a sighing god. Her unctuous breath, and the winds I traverse, . . . . . are born upon the same betraying breeze. Abandon Rome to a drunken mystic.
German tractors plow snow-kissed fields, as if old familiar lovers, seeding the venerable earth.
Death yawns, awaits anew the plow. That the brightest angels fell . . . . . Portends yet, wisdom in Hell. Jeffrey C. Alfier currently lives in Germany. He holds an MA in Humanities, and has served as an adjunct faculty member of City Colleges of Chicago - European Division.