Beauty and the Beast
Amant, j'ai vu l'écart entre la belle
et la bête. Defenestrate all your shells.
Let me see your souls- no your soles- your feet
Are my windows to walking on the street.
Walking down the street in Mexico, black
Sunglasses, tendrils of hair whipping back
And forth. Shall I buy silver earrings with
Opals and amethyst? Why yes, forthwith.
Papa always taking pictures of us
But now we’re back home with a lot less fuss.
Sadie’s long gone, a savage bull that could
Not bear the yoke, when she bit they would
Make sure she choked. Character is like a
Tree, reputation like a shadow grey.
Phew. Aren't you glad you're done reading that?
The next poem was a result of an in class writing session where we were shown different pictures, each picture separated by a stanza:
You Walk Through It
I tried not to look at it,
But I couldn’t help myself-
The sun was so bright
It stained my eyes
Green and purple
Like a giant bruise.
There was a slight,
Misty fog so light
As to be almost
Inconsequential.
The sun shot rays
Of gold and silver,
Diffusing all the other
Colors. The cattails
Glowed as if they were
On fire, or had been
Linked to an electrical
Line. The sun’s sticky
Fingers grabbed everything
They could find.
I had forgotten
What a sight they were:
“Moo” cows on a green
Hill, basking in the sun
Like snakes who needed
To increase their
Body temperature.
If they could yawn,
They would yawn.
One of their ears
Will twitch as they
Survey the land,
Not quite ready for
A nap.
They fly by when
You pass them in
A car, but if you
Go running with your Dad,
And you call to them,
You can make the oafs
Get up and chase you.
All this was a week
After I saw the
Hazy motion of the
Smoke fill the yard.
Apparently, it was a
Burn day. I felt bad
For the cats-
Today the weren’t
Quite the masters
Of the universe.
They weren’t allowed
To play in the piles
Of broken limbs
And thousands of
Needles and pinecones-
The result of hours
Of labor. Daddy
Picks them up and
They nuzzle his goatee
And groom him.
Then they wiggle
Loose and they’re off
To get that frog.
Mom will be heartbroken.
You can smell the wood
Burn, its flesh blackening
At the edges and then
Reaching the core,
Until there’s nothing
Left but a few ashes.
When I think of it
Now, what I remember
Is the cobalt sky
Settling on top
Of the cherry filling.
The landscape silhouetted
Like the little shapes
Of dogs and horses
My grandmother
Used to cut out for me.
The world turns dark,
Color is slipping away,
Sinking into the earth,
Which will spit it
Back out in the morning.
Everyone notices
When the moon is full
And close, but tonight
It’s far away.
Once I saw my brother
Fly off his bike
During a race,
Crashing down
On top of it.
The day was just
Beginning to cool
And darken-
A beautiful night.
And we were off
To the emergency room.
Nothing was broken-
Just a bruised back
And some bruised pride.
Wind knocked out
And blown back in.
He looked so good
Up there by the
Starting gate, wearing
All his mandatory gear,
And smiling like
He didn’t know how
To stop.
And in a dream
Once I saw death
Stare me in the face,
Looking similar to
A Georgia O’Keefe
Painting of a cow skull.
Death was bony, with
Hot, cracked, dry skin.
We were in the middle
Of nowhere,
In the middle of nothing.
And so I shook
His hand, and he
Dissolved and left me
Alone in the desert.
I sat down and cried,
And the tear soaked
Into the dirt, and
The dream changed.
And Death was there
Again, so I gave him
A hug- he thought I
Was crazy.
Now I’m at the beach,
Running down the hot
Sand barefoot, trying not
To burn the soles of
My feet, or to step on
Anything I would rather
Not step on. A seagull
Was having a confrontation
With a crab at the water’s
Edge. The crab seemed
Unhappy, so I ran
Listening to my toes slap
The wet sand, waving
My arms, and the bird
Flew off and settled
Down the beach.
The crab didn’t appreciate
Me fighting his battles,
He scuttled off without
Saying thank you.
They say you shouldn’t
Go walking by yourself
In the city, and you
Definitely shouldn’t
Go in those dark
Tunnels by yourself.
Sure, you can see
All the way through
To the end, and you’re
Carrying pepper spray,
But you can never
Be too careful for
Your mother.
It’s a good thing
She doesn’t know
You walk through it
Every night.
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