Cidade de Maravilhas

There's the hill of Kerosene,
     And the hill of the Skeleton,
The hill of Astonishment,
     And the hill of Babylon.
—Elizabeth Bishop

There's the hill of Kerosene:
     Oily, yellowed, flammable.
Such lamp-light must be never seen
     Illuminating table.

And the hill of the Skeleton,
     A random, ossuary pile
Of bleached, unneeded calcium.
     If ground, more versatile.

The hill of Astonishment
     Is not one I believe.
Those survey parties that were lost
     I cannot grieve.

And the hill of Babylon,
     Where I with tongue will feed,
As burglar, perhaps killer,
     In wild, generic need.



Survivor Poetry Contest
Trigger 39, Form F (Glosa)