your mind unraveled
a mark of disgrace
impressed by divine favor
on your body
a disease, a spot, brand yourself.
I bear on my body
the marks of _________.
as if you deserve these
five holy wounds,
this odour of sanctity.
state of grace, these flowers
that bloom after death,
overwhelmed.
to suddenly dry up, heal
as if it never happened.
hysterical.
you are an illness,
punctured in the wilderness
blooming under the skin.
just drive the sword
to the heart
of this miracle,
the throbbing
center of all things
holy.
mother of _______
sister of _______
wife of _______
our lady, blessed virgin,
the other Mary.
by the power of the Holy
Spirit, two queens of England.
the mother of Jesus
the disciple of Jesus
“Bloody Mary”
daughter, daughter
daughter, daughter
a 1931 Hitchcock film
a sitcom follow-up
a music album
a debut novel
an elephant from the circus
a ghost said to appear
when summoned
call her name three times
at midnight, rub your eyes,
turn around, chant.
blueberry baby, blueberry baby
bloody mary, I killed your baby.
leave it to my clumsy hands
to be here with a body lost
misplaced elbows, locks of
tightly wound russet curls,
the shadow of a cheek.
how can I talk the world
into getting into the wide
backseat of my mint Buick
when I have no hands
to linger behind her ears?
unhook the smallest of clasps?
how will I ever know
her soft inner thighs
like violets?
...and if getting there
is everything,
what am I to do upon arrival?
greet this world
with a glint of teeth
in a rose-lipped mouth?
moan like the
inside of an egg?
my pillow gut orders me
to turn it all around
head back,
eyes on the dirt
feel the bones
of someone
that walked this way
long ago.
to shut or hem in.
close in on all sides.
a valley enclosed by
tall mountains. tall trees
around the campsite. to
insert in the same envelope,
package, or the like. a
dark space. to make it
private. bound on all
sides. contain. surround.
circle. ring. girdle. confine.
encompass. corral. fence in.
fear of these spaces. confine.
the drama of your birth
was considerably
quiet.
without a scream
to enter this world,
you were born
from a subtle
push into beginning.
how will you ever understand
the meaning of silence?
the sun is the loudest moment
you can remember.
