And many desired her, but none knew her all the days of her life […]
The King James Bible
the odds were against them
his beheaded body marked her
with lonely repetition of depictions
mr nothing looked at that of michele
the tenebrist knew the maid’s eyes
riveted upon the act would miss her tears
and the drapery in reds used to be
the adornment of the lovers’ line
not of the slaughterhouse backdrop
when leaving the palazzo barberini
mr nothing just glanced at la fornarina
a sword in her hand would go unnoticed
hidden pilcrow 