The foul rag and bone shop

…”Arthur liked space, and Maria gloried in uncluttered space, having been brought up in the more than cluttered house of her parents, even before Mamusia had reverted to gypsydom, and established the midden in the basement beneath all this beauty. The foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart was what Darcourt had once called the Gypsy camp, and Maria had been angry with him, because it was so true.” (Davies, p. 76)

The foul rag and bone shop of the heart
The foul rag and bone shop of the heart
Odds and ends of hurt and love burn
Odds and ends of hurt and love burn
the shop burns, the odd ends of bone and rag,
and love and the foul heart hurt.

A turn of the cards, The Queen of Hearts
A turn of the cards, The Queen of Hearts
So much to ask, to long and yearn, without end.
So much to ask, to long and yearn, without end.
so long without much turn of hearts
the queen yearns to ask the end of the cards.

Laying out upon the table, ringing changes
Laying out upon the table, ringing changes
At last, I learned the secrets, now I love.
At last, I learned the secrets, now I love.
Laying out the changes, the ringing secrets now
upon the table, at last, I learned love.

Now the shop, and upon the table of bone,
Odds too long, laying the heart out to changes
And ask the cards of foul rags, hurt and of love
and a turn of the hearts yearning, so much,
I, the queen, at last I learned love, ringing,
Burns the secrets, ends without end.

Davies, Robertson. The Lyre of Orpheus. Viking Penguin Inc., United States of America, 1989.