A signature dance
for The Belly Girls.
Three sisters lined up
in a mirror and slapped
at rounded tummies,
punched at saddlebags,
swore at the hips
so clearly unapologetic as if
they had a right
to their sweet belled curves.
For a Man Overheard Once Mentioning Fondness for the Word Darling
The words fall in like daggers or dares or my darling
Falling in like rain or paper fish in rain or the words
Written on the backs of paper fish in magic marker
in rain running rivers of blackness darker
than shade at midnight in strange enchanted woods the sword
of moonlight stabs the air to where we found the black cat darling
miracle on velvet paws and made a home for it
and sewed a you and me into the swoon
that woos and soon wounds us all, Darling.
To be where you are, Darling, for a shiny penny
an old medicine bottle dug from a hillside
a scrap of broken pottery to mosaic a menu
for the dishiest night ever, the daziest night.
Let’s swing from the moon, touch a bathwater sky
with pointed toes and this one destination: Darling.
And this wish, to be where you are
for the duration, Darling
To be nowhere else for the world, Darling.
for The Belly Girls.
Three sisters lined up
in a mirror and slapped
at rounded tummies,
punched at saddlebags,
swore at the hips
so clearly unapologetic as if
they had a right
to their sweet belled curves.
For a Man Overheard Once Mentioning Fondness for the Word Darling
My Darling, the wind falls in like stones
Anne Sexton
Falling in like rain or paper fish in rain or the words
Written on the backs of paper fish in magic marker
in rain running rivers of blackness darker
than shade at midnight in strange enchanted woods the sword
of moonlight stabs the air to where we found the black cat darling
miracle on velvet paws and made a home for it
and sewed a you and me into the swoon
that woos and soon wounds us all, Darling.
To be where you are, Darling, for a shiny penny
an old medicine bottle dug from a hillside
a scrap of broken pottery to mosaic a menu
for the dishiest night ever, the daziest night.
Let’s swing from the moon, touch a bathwater sky
with pointed toes and this one destination: Darling.
And this wish, to be where you are
for the duration, Darling
To be nowhere else for the world, Darling.
