The Same as Always

That's everything.
It's done.
You've nothing left
Except this hole,
This ragged piece of blank.

Girl, you're fortunate.
I've seen them rot
And trickle through the tissues,
Through the veins,

A hideous distillment,
Leaching death.

But not for you.
Right now, for you,
This granulating wound
This healing skin.

Banishing Chant

Pig-lady, pig-lady,
Go hide in the woods.
We don't want to see you,
Not here on the path.

We don't want to look at
Your lady-half-face.
We don't want to look at
Your cloven-hog-head.

Pig-lady, pig-lady,
With long maenad hair,
We won't have you near us,
We won't have you here.

We don't want to know you.
Stay deep in the woods.
Don't force us to face you;
Don't force us to see --

One side sweetly scented,
The other side rank.
One side slender wand-limbs,
The other side hooves.

Pig-lady, pig-lady,
With long, tangled hair,
We won't have you by us.
We won't have you here.

We can't bear to touch you;
Don't force us to feel
Your cold lady-flesh and
Hot, stinking sow's skin.

Don't force us to breathe where
You also draw breath
Don't force us to step where
You've printed the sod.

Pig-lady, pig-lady
Just keep to the woods.
Stay crouched in a thicket
And try not to be.

Ariadne

Limbs as pale as foam upon the strand --
I guess she must have whipped her slender arms
And kicked her tapered ankles till they snapped.
How else could she begin to rid herself
Of all that screaming fury, lye-harsh grief?
But honey, after all, you're just a girl
And this is just another stand-up show.

FYI

Render me a lantern made of straw
Peel from me each inch of living skin
Stuffing it with prickled yellow stalks
Then kindle me
And watch me writhe and crackle, stiffen, flare
Just so you know:
That's how you butcher a woman;
That's how you drop into hell.

No Good

My sweet colleen.
My little, little girl.

Do you suppose that I would let you cry
if I could comfort you?

Oh! How you sob and shudder, little girl!

I'll tell you this:
what's lost is sometimes found again.
It is!

I know,
that's nothing now.
But later on --

Colleen, colleen,
my angel, please don't cry.

(Cypress Boat)

Lie!

I need a story.
Tell it to me, quick.

Do you not see?

My heart is not a mirror.
How can I compass all these particles?
Do you suppose that I can draw them in,
and sensibly reflect the way they look?

I need a legend.
I must have a tale.

I want it gaunt and speedy,
so thin the wind can whistle through its bones,
so spare the shadows cannot cling beside
the sharp-marked edges of its easy shape.

Please,

the dazzle hurts me.

please, please:
I need a lie.

Japan

Soft, now.
Living company,
be still.

Let us press
as flat as shadows;
Let us take no space.

Let us be dim and muted,
dumb as tombs.

No space, no light, no sound.

For we will not engage
another atom of this breathing world
till we have said farewell.

Quiet,
living company,
be still.

Continue

Calme-toi,
ma biche, ma biche.
Be still,
my doe.

Resign.
That’s all you have to do:
lie back; endure.

The blood –
don’t let it frighten you.
There is no need.

That’s right:
your blood knows how to flow
and how to stop.

The sick --
yes, sometimes we reject.
But that will pass.

The tears –
you feel them shatter. But
you are still whole.

Calme-toi,
ma biche, ma biche.
Be still,
my doe.

Roel

So, this is how
the morning light explodes:
there is no color
like that light
when it glances
on your forearm
as you wake.

Girl at the Head of the Stairs

Sun through the stair window.
The girl’s long hair --
not brown,
not red,
a young color.

Blue jeans;
a scoop-necked top,
dark rose;
face raised to the beams;
a flawless throat.

He looks at her, enjoys.
She notices.
But that is all:
they are both
satisfied.

Kitten and Branches

Kitten upset the
pussywillow. Frightened: first
the crash, then scolding.