Innocent Questions about Dom

I can’t help wondering!
What sort of place is Dom
To be ruled by King
And his lady Wis,
And for its priests and prophets to be Christen?
What sort of invader is Bore,
And how clever a general must Ran be,
Having never failed to drive Bore out?
What does Sel rarely sell?
Is Martyr a refugee in Dom or a native?
And how [...]

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The problem with me

The problem with me is always with me.
She’s clingy, she’s ugly, she smells.
Her arms hug my knees with the force of the teeth
Of a poodle with problems. She’s odd.
You’ve heard her mumble; nonsense makes more sense
Than those atonal comments she thinks are so funny.
When the greedy thing asks for a hug, which is any [...]

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I Need Not Envy

Why should I envy you?
You know Lord Thomas.
I know Tom.
You know skin soft to look at.
I know skin pale
and portrait-like to touch.
You know curly hair.
I know slippery
Unwashed curls
that fall on my face
and land in my mouth.
You know a diplomatic voice.
I have heard it soft.
I need not envy.

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Molly

She looked soft to touch and smelled
that way, too, because she wore
a lotion called Cotton Blossom: a round
smell. A pearly smell – bath pearls, not
hard pearls. A smell like a pale blue
sweater cradling and fondling
the ultimate softness.
Her lips made a flute for her
voice to pass through.
Her smile was warm enough, but lay
below the [...]

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The Artist’s Holy Hands

I wish my words were mountains
That could reach You
Or a river that could follow You
And fill the ocean with my praise.
I wish they had an organ’s voice
To carry them above the altar.
But I am just a pitch,
A stream,
A pile of clay.
Yet You have given me
These holy hands
That can exalt dead clay
To sculptures,
Streams to fountains,
Pitches to [...]

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Black Velvet

“Take this,” he said.
“You might find it useful.”
I fingered it.
It was wrapped in black velvet.
Black as the silk sea,
which I couldn’t discern from the night sky.
It took a loud rip of waves
and cold wind beating in protest against our sails
before we were out in the dark
and startled by the silence.
Our lamplight trailed out on the [...]

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Grief

Grief didn’t steal your breath -
that was fear of death.
Grief wasn’t the unbreathable air
that stung your eyes until they had to close
to the love still there -
that was fear of despair.
Nor did grief have you thrown
into the empty cell of your thoughts,
where you knelt on your own,
sighed,
and waited;
that was fear of being alone.
Grief was left [...]

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What Happened to Wisdom

What happened to wisdom?
They have turned her like an hourglass
So her feet are where her head should be,
And her bladder is where her heart should be.
Her skirts fall over her face,
So we have no light
To see where they are taking us.

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No One Cared

When she left, for all her beauty,
She left the water flat.
When she left, for all her wisdom,
she shook up storm nor scandal.
When she left, for all its richness,
her garment had no train.
Like the lily.
Death for it was soft and small;
No one heard its petals fall.

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