Complines and nones -

Out of the bull-ring
                the matador is merely human.
The carefully covered 
                    nurtured scars
are a constant 
               reminder of the life of death
that was chosen
               long ago,
                         when his world line
bore youth and innocence -
               when his babbo was a fighter ...
a time 
          when words sprang to life,
                                   slicing discord,
creating anger,
               proclaiming life,
                                   reassuring us of death...

          ... these wounds are slow to heal ...
                         the phantasm of pain endures...

A las cinco de la tarde ...

          as the child handles a white sheet of linen
down the long corridor ...
                         gently laying it 
                                   over the lifeless sculpture.

At five o'clock

          he had remembered 
                              the many death defying battles
to which he was witness
          and the agonizing tragedy
                                    of their forced outcome.
It knew
          that history is very seldom
                                        written by the vanquished.
It knew
          that the child wept during every encounter
                                   and that his world line crumbled
after every defeat...

It is done!

     Scarred ... the boy awakens to a new day.