I spent a long night as an ape
and woke up half human
still shaking
I don't know if I can stand the other half
What Must be Done
The least secret thing in the universe
is the door that never opens twice
At least not until it does
all legs and no eyes
thinking only verbs
you never left
Drunkenly Sober
She was drunkenly sober
even as a child
There is a photo I will never forget
She is seven
wearing a dress that I am sure was appropriate for the occasion
her mother would have seen to that
without fail
the is a large festive ribbon in her hair
still proper
but starkly incongruous
with girls darkly serious eyes
and frank expression
I imagine the photographer trying to make the girl smile
with a small joke or frivolity
And I see those eyes register
nothing but the necessity of what would be the next Sunday activity:
long hours of study, piano
cleaning the house
and carefully ducking and sidestepping the endless barbs
exchanged between her parents
Later, during the woman's second marriage
her husband took a second photo of the woman's eyes
and put them on an album entitled "soul eyes"
And I suppose that those who have nothing
would find something in those eyes
there is plenty there
all that scientific materialism has to offer
I have been there myself
It is not her fault. It really isn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment