a sea change

a lion is born
when white smoke wisps
its way
from under the frescoes
towards the Adriatic

it chases a deer
over those same mountains
and rivers
depicted on scrolls that still line
the narrow corridors
of an empty palace

is it a coincidence, then
that a giraffe
should be spotted,
not striped,
not painted blue,
or purple,
or green,
or any colour for that matter?

that would betray
the invisible hand,
that guides,
the geologist, windward
into a princely
sea change