Dylan Willoughby

Spleen

Tonight I am smoking the Gauloises

of the spleen, Gauloises of

the blind angel’s mouth. Gauloises

smuggled under interdict.

Smoke hangs over our little atmospheres.

The espresso of my conscience

collects in the tumult of the night air.

You felt the heft of these wings,

you once remarked, like a bland

conflagration. You treasure above

all, the embouchure of the world

meeting world, the double cross of the mirror.

Dylan Willoughby has been a fellow at Yaddo and MacDowell.  His poetry recently appeared in Notre Dame Review, and his photography in On The Seawall.  His recent solo piano compositions as “Lost in Stars” include “A Clearing” and “Arrondissement.”