Postcards from Europe

The Good Baron









Join the good Baron's race

what delight he brings the children
all of us

on a dark, moonbeam-swept eve

tone poems
civil, grand, and elegant
a masque for our wintered souls

life as an operetta

He will smile and all will be well

our fantasies become unbound

Vienna, forever
Radetsky, god
the empire, the world

Death itself will be cheated

a grand ricochet through a time of dreams
and the incorruptible happiness

white uniforms, blue blood
gold piping, red cannon fire

that becomes ours

polka francaise

escape

First published, Barnes & Noble’s Between the Leaves,
New York, NY, 1995

* * * * *

Benedictus, a, um










(AP) - Vatican City

Pope Benedict XVI announced today that the Vatican,
seat of central authority of the Roman Catholic Church,
will be re-located to Schloss Neuschwanstein, Bavaria.

An anonymous Vatican source confirms The Holy See
has accepted Nikko Hotels' tender offer
to re-devlop Vatican City into a five-star resort and spa.

The same source denied rumors that Benedict XVI
plans to excommunicate Poland; Bill O'Reilly,
however, has been granted permission for an exorcism.

Reports that the Italian members of the College of Cardinals
have been transferred for 'special work skills re-training'
to a centre outside Munich remain unconfirmed.

Heil Mary.

* * * * *

t h u n d e r b a l l














look up
Kastrup
parachute through 100 foot fog
your papers please
pleasure, sir, pleasure
the blue bus to the red lights
two rainbows have landed
window shop the jet lag
to the bricks of the Stroget
begin the penultimate foreplay
posing before the little mermaid
leave the dishonest last
for the train comeapartment
wake up together, all
separate pasts forgotten
Trollhatten
it is time to decide
Red October Red or Monte Carlo Yellow
aero or open air
it is time to wed
the magistrate impersonates some god
he'll do
we do
we'll do each other later
protected by side impact beams,
leather, and love
two fairies on the ferry
Baltic Sea
consummating each other seasick
now we're honest men

look down
Helsinfors town
vodka, art deco, and post-nuptial
bewilderment
tight, long kisses
sauna scandal messes
warm, cuddling hugs
connubial nudity wearing out hotel rugs
green wine
red roses
crystal saliva for breakfast
frightful sightseeing
unmusical cruising
blue movies
yellow custard
white luncheon
self-indulgent souvenir hunting
self-satisfied postcard writing
dinner's never-ending seven-course meal
buddies friends
companions lovers
partners criminals
two more doses of lovers for dessert
no more talk-TV calibre
one date whirlygig wonders
the quickie emotional
the quicksand of the queer
we're free, yes, sir, we're together
from the griffin factory
to the continent's every corner
our velvet weltanschauung

look out
the Euro honeymoon begins with a shout
ready turbo
steady James
go dog go
love in Lapland, in front of moose
noogies in the North Cape,
oral sex in Oslo
fellatio in a fjord?
butt boys banging away
at Brandenburg Gayt
good soldiers petting in Prague,
getting hard to Haydn in Hungary
sexual vignettes in Vienna
(third man included)
sucking all of Switzerland
wet daydreams on the Schilthorn
maniacal alliterative massage in Monaco
driving on & in the Riviera
camp crashing Cannes
gondoliers in fioritura Venice
salacious bodily sins on the Orient Express
unnoticed in Amsterdammed
limp, damp in England
a needless fistfight in Zagreb
or overdining on chocolate twinks
at the Ritz







we'll have all the time in the world
beachcombing boys
garlic-sotted in Bretagne
blind drunk in Bordeaux
bathing in the Bay of Biscay
and deeping much of each other
to sleep in Biarritz
we'll end the gala voyage
someplace in the Estremadura
wet lips and warm tongues
where the continent ends
kissing at the Cabo de Roca
touching bare feet
in the dunes of Guincho
unspeakable things
in the first class dark...
find your own road
this is our schadenfreude
home will be in the desert sands
near the heaving ocean
on a mountain that soars
close to each other
forever, like the stars
me and...well, whoever.

by Adam Henry Carriere