Black and white clothes, formal
careful, with the wine, appetizer
on a platter, served, thanks be
to God, without spilling on
the person’s clothes
nor revealing the boy behind
the stairs, the money basket
dropping into secret pockets,
the ring of rosaries circling
each cardinal. They are poisoned.
© Lavinia Kumar
Pope's butler charged over leaked Vatican letters
Lavinia Kumar lives in New Jersey. Her poetry has appeared in several publications, in the US and UK. She writes a blog for her brother’s seniorsmagazine.org, based in Portsmouth, NH.
