Year 2 A.E. -- Veritatis Viti
"It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily."
-- Marlene Dietrich, Shanghai Express
Poised
in that breathless moment before the fall
as the dancer at the height of her jete
the plane at apogee
Forever
prepared to plummet but never falling
set to slide but never sinking
a stasis of grace
Always
with a barb in the quiver and another on the bow
the arch comeback, the tommygun snark
a Hays Code workaround
Secrets
yours as holy as hers
casting unspeaking shadows across the now
and the after
Polite
does not mean safe
Honest
does not mean open
Truth
is the only sin left