My shadow has been swallowed cold
down the throat of this dark-winged
angel
Stone silent fucker
unconsciously wrapped his fingers
insistent as any Tuesday
in the saffron ropes of my hair
kissed me like poets do
with kisses of jasmine
and sorrow
2
Begin by putting ice in her mouth
the tongue grows still and her
words fall like rain wash away
Set chill stones under her feet
flagstones of an ancient temple
then pull them away very fast
Leave her no bath but the remnants
of uncontained green seas
3
The sticky wrappings of my feet
bound
in their perfume
of aloes and alum and dusty pain
are crushed
by the weight
of your last whisper:
I’m gone
4
There is a black swan
in the pond at the park
She refuses to mate
Did you know swans mate for life?
Some think it was the fireworks
that scared her
or scarred her
5
My eyes bleed ink His
are the still topaz of arctic ice
My voice is a pinprick of bells
easy to ignore at midnight
6
Once there was a golden ball
in the sky
under that moon
a two-for-one
a smaller moon
or a satellite
coldly revolving
in a neglected orbit
Have you noticed that the moon
is always full here? It never sets
7
Place one last hard word
in her mouth
to silence her
Wrap her in passionless sheets
until all the fever has left her veins
