~*~
Christmas
In the dark the crescent
moon illuminates the road
the river and my retreat.
I'm heavy with stagnation
no room to move
in either direction.
Let Mary take my place
and I could be her icon
assume the silent knowledge
the moment of birth and joy
the precious baby whose fate
She didn't think of when
turbaned kings laid gold at her feet.
Silent silent Mary holy Mary
You can have my heart
in exchange for your peace
it's indignant and damaged
take it from me
fill its fissures with gold
seal them with myrrh.
Wear it as a jewel
and take my place.
I will hold you son
against my empty chest
His heart strong enough
to keep us both alive.
~*~
Easter
the emerald parlor
remembered, come yourself
to convince me now impose
yourself firm to the
maroon furrow of my heart.
Interloper, make your mayhem
here, where I have been
miserable - christen me
this burglar
who has stolen time and
time again my sins rise,
duplicate with yours,
a column of white ash,
our own promiscuous rupture
of faith. I will give
you back the way home
gnaw through me to my bone
and there write beautiful
the names of all
our dead in your salt
milk be my confessor
coax me, plunge sincere
the epistle of silence
the cross
lay sown
in the disjointed
homily of sex
but not to disappoint
the long lure of love burns
celestial in the dark
to domesticate the night,
each star numerous
in its power to assail us
now, in our charter of rebirth.
~*~
Contributors' Notes : Hives and Covens : Womb Poetry Home