Lucien Viotti, Arthur Rimbaud,
and Lucien Létinois
‘armes lentes’ ~ Paul Verlaine
Paul always was a child prodigy when
It came to slow, slow tearfulness about
Those ones he loved, especially young men.
Paul specialized in slowed rubato pout
When singing in his heart and on a page
In minor keys of masculinity
Embodied in rued boys of budding age.
These blossoming came in a trinity
Of male epiphanies and two of them
Were sepia soft specimens. They died
Lucien Létinois
Extremely young. The other had a stem
That lasted longer. Rimbaud defied
Paul’s weeping willow poses in his life,
Refused to be a tender victim wife.