Grandmothers I Have Collected: I

On a sunlight-heavy street
she leans brazil nut fingers
down to her wrinkled ankles
adjusting elephant skin tights

she is caught in a freeze frame
by an errant shaft of sun
that catches a dark shadow
just there on her calf

this spotlight reveals
hidden edges and pastel colors
the bruise dissolves into
a faded tattoo

on an eighty-five year old woman's calf

And my mind is off and racing
even while I hide my gaze
behind the glare and dark lenses
there is a story I must hear

mistress of the burlesque
or darling of the circus ring

How did that needle come
to worship glowing brown skin?
lost bet, lover's promise
blood sister's dare?

In my favourite daydream
she comes by it naturally
polynesian baby on the move
tradition rolling off her

like waves off an ancient shoreline

I hold this memory of
unexpected rebellion
twisted flicks of ink
and replay it on eyelids

when I need to see something beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I am...

I want this swiftly brought to an end,
all this awkward fumbling, trying to
fit together puzzle pieces of flesh.
When this is done, and you moan,
you shudder, give a kiss, and sleep,
I can finish counting your scars in peace.

Give thanks for unobservant lovers.
Only those who desire and obsess
but will never possess can truly see.
I keep molded pouts and smiles in my pocket.
Seduction is built into everything I do.
And I am so fucking beautiful.

All the time, even cold and marbleized,
violent with barely bridled rage,
hiding under the guise of dreaming,
giddy within this carefully cultivated,
oddly poisonous illusion of love.
Even my flaws are bewitchingly made.

It amuses me that mankind believes
I can be caught, can ever be claimed.
I am the spirit that drives men mad,
undulating at the edges of their vision.
I am a siren, casting my hungry net
over the sea, breaking suitors against the rocks.

I am both unicorn-tamer and monster,
savagely defending my freedom
Wild and unafraid as I run the fields,
slinking and terrible as I hunt the forests
I am pleased you have learned to avoid my gaze
as you fall into place, down on your knees.

I am not on a pedestal; I was born above you
and I am in the heart of first woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word Association is Your Friend. <-- More Poetry

Song of the Virginal Jezebel

Have you seen that girl?
The one whose eyes weave a spell so strong
tiny worlds masquerading
as organs of sight;
Lit with moonlight or ember-flecked fire
or even the heat-pregnant sun?

She with the silken needle-hairs
you wish would split your skin,
burrow as iridescent ticks,
curl around your bones
and replace your snappish ligaments.
Fill the hollow of your need.

Have you felt the force of her
pheromone musk pull you in,
bending the laws
of gravity and magnetism?
Her heady scent will
twist your organs into a feral smile.

When she frees the rhythm of her hips,
does your slow-flowing blood
rise to your cheeks
or drift lower to your quivering legs,
awakening the urge
in even the oldest and deaddest flesh?

Has that apathetic whore led you on?
Driven the very beat of your heart
with a knowing smile?
Only to spin away, destroy you,
with a careless shake of her head,
freeing her white-dove hands?

Have you kissed her honey-poison lips?
Felt the world tilt, drunk on paper stilts.
It moved you, how it broke you,
O how viciously that fleeting touch
shattered, rebuilt you.
A tongueless statue aching to taste the moon.

Did she create a tangle of limbs
for even one night in that merciless bed?
Did she let you sink in,
between her flirtatious thighs
and let you grow fat
on her scripted promises?

I am not jealous. I am livid with envy.

Have you sought that woman?
Devoured the annals of history,
churned even the earth of graveyards,
screamed her blasphemous name
until your spit foamed red
and salt dried on your fevered face?

She is a muzzled, bridled siren,
a most considerate temptress.
She will glove the hand
that makes your prostrate form stand.
She refuses to feed your addiction
and keeps her accursed distance.

~~~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~~~

Victory Through Verse: Alliteration Saves Lives. <-- More Poems

10,000 Small Sacrifices

I have tried being
every type of lover...

The seductive Cleopatra
with my pheromone mist
intoxicating your brain
expert toys and silky chemises
for any 'romantic' occasion

The inexperienced ingénue
that everyone wants
to teach sinful things to
plaid skirt and librarian hair
wearing my innocence like a shield

The tantric goddess Rati
so knowledgable and tempting
my saliva like the juice
of forbidden fruits on skin
all positions skillfully executed

The indomitable Ice Queen
biting words and walls so thick
that let the hero's passion in
trembling and turning to quicksilver
rebuilt at night for each performance

Even the reluctant prey
with trapped wrists or raking nails
shaking rage giving way to pleasure
but fighting the invader still
to a fumbling, guilty ecstasy

...but I only end up
feeling dissatisfied
more and more unclean

-ritually or otherwise-

washing slippery hands
brushing my teeth
erasing the scent of love

until the urge arises again
and I give another small
sacrifice on command.

~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~

Solecism is part of free speech, man! Dude, you can't suppress the solecism! <-- Yet More Poetry

Goddess

She violently
breaks the clouds
Rain softly
wounds the world
She idly wishes
for a tourniquet
for the weather.
But she doesn't bleed.

The souls of her feet are hammers
Her toenails are thorns
scarring the earth
Her eyes shatter the dark
without impunity
Her palms are liquid,
extinguishing the sun.

But she can't tell anyone.
With her siren song she’ll
strike you deaf
While her glory will
shine you blind
Without trying at all
she'll haunt your mind.

So she remains
a feral goddess
Alone and forever
behind a glass display
Failing to heed
not one human plea
Judging without mercy,
for none has she received.

~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~

Where's the fun in letting sleeping demons lie? <-- More Verses

Charcoal

Hair blackened with charcoal.
Eyes rimmed with kohl.
Skin smeared with bronze paint.
Voice practiced to give no hint.
Would you make of me a native?
Or would you raise me up to live
Your shining goddess, glistening
with sweat, my moonskin denting.

If I understood all about love
I could unpin this specimen dove
To awaken my corrections.
And so with mental convections
Black out, white out, mix us,
Animate the too-quiet masses.
Unfurl a flag of perfection
Instead of dirty reflection.
No riddles, doubts, or empire fears
Would slip into my pregnant ears.

What shade of pedestal goddess
Will you want me to address?
Sculpt me in marble cold
Or meld me in bronze bold
And color me exotic,
Or write me quixotic.
I did say I was a queen,
But I see this is your dream.

~~~~~~~~AEW~~~~~~~~

Look, Mumsie: no meter! <-- More Odes