my husband accuses me
of adultery
I have one hour to prepare
Aunt Marra weeps
as she fastens my wedding dress
slender fit of fidelity
they lead me to a pit
bury me to the waist
under God’s law
my husband has the right
to first blood
he takes an eye
the other men watch
their fists clench rocks
rounded from mean seasons
of the river-bed
smooth as bullets
in […]
No hour can be well formed
in the pond ripples, just
sunshadow sparkles, and a place of small thought
for the water birds. For them, grant
an axiom of pond ripples only (even as I write this).
Think (and grant it may be called that)
time as walking on rock outcroppings,
no one having the same shape, but all still
sharp, and hard. […]
My girl, my daughter,
I am still here.
You tell me my heart stopped
three times already.
You saw my blood pressure fall
and my face go pale.
I lost the warmth
as my heart slowed
in what they call
a complication.
You tell me now
I apologized to you,
on the stretcher before the operation,
because I hadn’t cleaned up my room.
Of course,
I can’t remember any of […]
only the catand immense quietis left in thishouse, the vibrantgathering of creativebeings, nourished infood and candles, chaosand squabbles, loveand wrestlings, scatteredbelongings and longingsmade real and now mythree beloved sons, atribe of artists havemoved into the city whereI have always wanted tobe, making their wayin a world, living intothe beauty of their voicesin every artistic waypossible, […]
There’s a comfort
in closings, endings, finales;
in rooming houses boarded.
Cottage windows sealed.
Refreshment stands
left barren but for their
now
ludicrous
embellishments.
Comfort in peeling paint,
disused garbage,
rusty coca cola signs.
Comfort and security.
A knowing familiarity.
Twilight absorbing
worn pennants and all
the liquor and beer cans
that once fueled desire
lost and spent on
empty furrowed sand.
~ Gary Pierluigi
Gary has worked in Social Services while continuing to write. Since […]
