The Assassin
The correct death is written in. I will fill the need. My bow is stiff. My bow is in readiness. I am the bullet and the hook. I am cocked and held ready. In
Rumpelstiltskin
Inside many of us Is a small old man Who wants to get out. No bigger than a two-year-old Whom you’d call lamb chop Yet this one is old and malformed. His head is
Dreaming The Breasts
Mother, Strange goddess face Above my milk home, That delicate asylum, I ate you up. All my need took You down like a meal. What you gave I remember in a dream: The freckled
Music Swims Back To Me
Wait Mister. Which way is home? They turned the light out And the dark is moving in the corner. There are no sign posts in this room, Four ladies, over eighty, In diapers every
Cinderella
You always read about it: The plumber with the twelve children Who wins the Irish Sweepstakes. From toilets to riches. That story. Or the nursemaid, Some luscious sweet from Denmark Who captures the oldest
The Break Away
Your daisies have come On the day of my divorce: The courtroom a cement box, A gas chamber for the infectious Jew in me And a perhaps land, a possibly promised land For the
For Johnny Pole On The Forgotten Beach
In his tenth July some instinct Taught him to arm the waiting wave, A giant where its mouth hung open. He rode on the lip that buoyed him there And buckled him under. The
A Curse Against Elegies
Oh, love, why do we argue like this? I am tired of all your pious talk. Also, I am tired of all the dead. They refuse to listen, So leave them alone. Take your
The Division Of Parts
1. Mother, my Mary Gray, Once resident of Gloucester And Essex County, A photostat of your will Arrived in the mail today. This is the division of money. I am one third Of your
The Civil War
I am torn in two But I will conquer myself. I will dig up the pride. I will take scissors And cut out the beggar. I will take a crowbar And pry out the
The Author Of The Jesus Papers Speaks
In my dream I milked a cow, The terrible udder Like a great rubber lily Sweated in my fingers And as I yanked, Waiting for the moon juice, Waiting for the white mother, Blood
The Legend Of The One-Eyed Man
Like Oedipus I am losing my sight. LIke Judas I have done my wrong. Their punishment is over; The shame and disgrace of it Are all used up. But as for me, Look into
Angels Of The Love Affair
“Angels of the love affair, do you know that other, The dark one, that other me?” 1. ANGEL OF FIRE AND GENITALS Angel of fire and genitals, do you know slime, That green mama
The Wedding Ring Dance
I dance in circles holding The moth of the marriage, Thin, sticky, fluttering Its skirts, its webs. The moth oozing a tear, Or is it a drop of urine? The moth, grinning like a
The Fallen Angels
They come on to my clean Sheet of paper and leave a Rorschach blot. They do not do this to be mean, They do it to give me a sign They want me, as