| Fortune wags its tongue
|
| Along the walkways of the bathhouse
|
| They say the monk returned from Iceland
|
| Unearthly boon in stow
|
| He who possesses the Pin of Quib
|
| Is granted eternal beauty
|
| I am tired of men
|
| Of kneading the knots from their bulbous backs and necks
|
| And rinsing their filmy water
|
| From this mew of tiles
|
| When I heard tell of the Pin of Quib
|
| Straight away I knew I had to hold it at all costs
|
| A storm like a drum
|
| Encompasses the priory
|
| As I go on mouse-toes
|
| Into the blind man’s chamber
|
| And leaning over his bed
|
| I push the blade between his ribs
|
| But then in a flash he’s got my wrists
|
| And he’s pinned me to the floor
|
| I wake up gagged and bound
|
| To a windless ochre forest
|
| The monk’s wan face inches from my own
|
| His breath smells like pears
|
| He asked me then
|
| «would you like to see the Pin?»
|
| Retching on his filth
|
| I nod «more than anything»
|
| From inside his coat
|
| He fishes a brooch
|
| A plain pea of stone
|
| No bigger than a thumbnail
|
| And I can hardly believe
|
| How very ordinary it seems
|
| Then it dawns on me
|
| It was all mere folly
|
| «Yes, now you see
|
| The Pin’s a pebble only
|
| That which you so thirstily
|
| Coveted over my dead body
|
| Now it is yours to keep
|
| You are its custodian
|
| But first I must have your eyes
|
| Then the circle will be whole"
|
| I once
|
| Could see
|
| But now
|
| I am blind
|
| And all sense
|
| Of the world is lost
|
| Lost, lost
|
| I once
|
| Could see
|
| But now
|
| I am blind
|
| And all sense
|
| Of the world is lost
|
| Lost, lost |