full belly of disgrace
wishes to run fast
past the boys
grabs and jeers
pigtails go on pigs
and ponies are made to break
short legs wear down
at the heel of two long days
weeks go off the bridge
fire would be born in water
had the river lived through the drought
if i let them burn me
would i be a good girl?
i saw one taller than the rest
burning high to crumble down
beneath them all i stand to know
which princess today will be
in the carriage she sits upright
glassy eyes and soft taint lips
her hair and neck and bones all clear
her dress a curtain stained with rose
down the road the horses pulled
running the whip screams the mane
the rocks beat dust and the dust beats on
one fatal bump and the princess falls down
her hair and neck and bones all clear
her dress a curtain stained with rose.
burning high to crumble down
beneath them all i stand to know
which princess today will be
in the carriage she sits upright
glassy eyes and soft taint lips
her hair and neck and bones all clear
her dress a curtain stained with rose
down the road the horses pulled
running the whip screams the mane
the rocks beat dust and the dust beats on
one fatal bump and the princess falls down
her hair and neck and bones all clear
her dress a curtain stained with rose.
1.
forgetting last week like you forgot the past
3.
5.
forgetting last week like you forgot the past
two decades of life like two wet socks
from yesterday's downpour washing clean
the streets splashing traffic on your skin
2.
from high above the flooding puddles
second looks plop down
a landscape of eyes
wide and shot blank
2.
from high above the flooding puddles
second looks plop down
a landscape of eyes
wide and shot blank
in the face of strangers
reflecting us
3.
we are something of the glass variety
kept behind the local display of the familiar
novelties sold on corners
half-priced with bad weather
4.
we sleep on our shoulders
at odd angles and hours
kept behind the local display of the familiar
novelties sold on corners
half-priced with bad weather
4.
we sleep on our shoulders
at odd angles and hours
all heads and necks creased
and tucked in secret at night
and tucked in secret at night
5.
at night we slipped to escape the glass
the glass fell through to the floor
floored between a thousand gaping hands
hands all with their eyes closed
closed for the evening of nightmares
nightmares and dreams
6.
the elevator carries up broken mirrors
and disabled hands come down
detached at the waist
then rejoined in bed
7.
a neonlit child calls.
her lost shadows form an assembly line
out under the dim red cross,
the echoes of her mother,
a mother,
no mother.
(she will learn how to share
all things good in time)
8.
in departure there is return
9.
to the caged monkey
i will sing
10.
full belly, full moon,
go sliver by sliver,
she left us
all alone
in a land of strangers
stranger than we,
no belly, no moon
to walk by tonight,
no belly, no moon
warm dark to cold light.
nightmares and dreams
6.
the elevator carries up broken mirrors
and disabled hands come down
detached at the waist
then rejoined in bed
7.
a neonlit child calls.
her lost shadows form an assembly line
out under the dim red cross,
the echoes of her mother,
a mother,
no mother.
(she will learn how to share
all things good in time)
8.
in departure there is return
9.
to the caged monkey
i will sing
10.
full belly, full moon,
go sliver by sliver,
she left us
all alone
in a land of strangers
stranger than we,
no belly, no moon
to walk by tonight,
no belly, no moon
warm dark to cold light.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
