*
Arms rise: tongues
in dark
voice night
rooms, song broke
from ground
so quick, what
we said of fear—
your hands, each
bone, soft
warm counting.
*
as he handed me a drink, he began to hum a song
and all the boys there at the bar began to sing along
—Lowell George
…I feed sparrows and
I feed hawks—
in mist dark
bloom
azalea, spin
vine, almost
not quite
sideways, that
concrete
*
paint, tar, no soap:
clouds know—
drums first, click
the roof
of your mouth—dance
blue water
*
end stage :first day
of school
got you crying
—a drop of
morphine for
your tongue, swallow
air, see you there
*
…tan pants blue
jacket white shirt
little blue, mother
shopped for you
*
in advance, can’t
tell which
you get—scrub
the cellar late
night, bitter
stalk discarded
animal fat, red pepper
we eat.
*
Spoon don’t
know what
mouth, bee
say where
the flower at
ghosts: too
damn many
Don’t snuff
that wick!
want smoke
a crush of
marigold
tomato stalk
rain sweet
the shell
and bone
dog bring
big medicine
Oh, Mary
there’s a baby
on the stone.
___
Nothing, beyond folklore, is known about August West.
Friday, June 21st, 2019 10:51 am
Categories: Archives, Issue 12.4, Poetry
