[One time her handbag opens]
One time her handbag opens up like a
revelation. Its contents consist of burning
flesh. Afterwards, when she snaps shut the lock,
a quiet crackling is heard as small flames
lick at the lining. It sounds pleasant. English.
A man with pale eyelashes emerges like
a genie from a bottle and lays another
log on the fire. After that, her dreams continue
to be as short-lived as trolley stops.
[Something unexpected]
Something unexpected can come at you with
strong force through an open window. Something
that no one foresaw. A boathook or a
tool meant for a completely different use.
Sometimes it can be a human being. We have
much to learn from music. One must
keep playing as if nothing had happened.
[Perhaps, there’s still a small chance]
Perhaps there’s still a small chance
that a man, an impresario that is, will
come forward and throw himself over you
like a quick flare. Like a blush.
Perhaps there are still wolves, gray as mittens,
who sharpen their eyeteeth on grindstones
so the shavings gleam like wedding rings in the grass.
Perhaps there are still smoke-jumpers, real
men named Snake or Bear, who bend low
with all their heavy equipment, just to soothe
small children. Especially boys.
[The smallest of my brothers]
The smallest of my brothers will bring me
back to our first hiding places.
Beneath them, in the deepest holes,
are the orange seeds that forgetfulness poked
down into the earth. To get them to grow
you must lie down pressed tight against
the loam and become an earth angel. To wait
in this way is also a blessed state.
[He who doesn’t want to live]
He who doesn’t want to live lies stretched out
on the tracks. Quickly and gently he’s lifted up
and laid down on the platform. His four benefactors
stand around him with bowed heads.
Together, they look like a fairytale rose hedge.
The weak one glows with a pulsing flame.
They turn their eyes so as not to be blinded.
[First, she must make a clean break]
First, she must make a clean break. Renounce everything.
Shave the head, wipe off the clothes. Fulfill
other people’s dreams, take on their illnesses. Unite
those who belong together, separate those who should be apart.
Unstick those fixed in their ways, get the lame to gallop,
raise the curtains for the blind and play telephone
with the deaf. Nothing could save her. The indispensable ones
must die. The Evangelists knew this already.
[Waited a whole winter]
Waited a whole winter for someone
who was taller than me to bend
down over me and whisper something
in confidence. A father maybe, or
a horse looking for sugar.
[You sleep five floors]
You sleep five floors above the street.
Where the town ends and the snow begins.
On your right side your son sleeps.
He turns his head to the east and
grows. The whole night he grows.
Uninterrupted and very slowly.
[My breasts are sheer]
My breasts are sheer as January light.
You place your hands on my hips.
Wind up the clock until it starts to tick.
[A woman can feel]
A woman can feel wondrously at home
with a married man’s body. His ears are warm and
full of creases and hollows like a well-used
overcoat. His scrotum can seem old and worn
but is soft as leather when it’s used up. He wears
no rings because his fingers can’t bear any
shackles and his promises are so thin you can read
the newspaper through them. Maybe it’s so, that
the truest familial feelings can only arise in a family
other than your own.