Al'skander

"Al'skander, no one else could have conceived it."

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

"Take care, Al'skander," I said as I combed his hair.

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

I breathed it and said, "Al'skander, we are home."

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

"Al'skander, I think he is in pain, though he does not say so."

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

And I was going to add, "No fire without ash, Al'skander."

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

I thought to myself, Al'skander knows he'd not have asked me in vain.

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

"Al'skander," I said lifting off his chiton, "did you call them that to the Macedonians?"

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

"Don't do that, Al'skander," I said, only half laughing.

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

I said beforehand, easily, "Your hair wants trimming, Al'skander," and he let me take off the ragged ends.

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972

I was ashamed to have been so trivial, and said, "Of the altar you'll build, Al'skander, at the world's end, carved with your name."

The Persian Boy Renault, Mary 1972