he is found on the dark stairs- 

 

the painting hung in his room above the shop-

a stage lit night scene

top of Vesuvius, Etna or Stromboli viewed upside down 

sphincter of a rocket blasting off

(Tyrrhenian or Ionian) a sea of tar on fire 

as if under klieg lights the village 

livid white stone, minus humans outside 

 

window blinds always down during daylight- 

no hollow-eyed woman in a red dress 

with whom to share a cigarette 

during a chiaroscuro 

moment

 

some say there is a brother in Fremantle-

a sister in Naples