USA

grillostone@yahoo.com 

Spotted Noose
(for stoneking)

i never dreamed i saw deer
browsing
trading
fur
for treachery

fumbling with the spotted noose
tearing down the moon
with blackened antlers

in harsh daylight
i’ve seen them running
in
reckless
shoes

do you know
they carry
tick’s curse?
even in moonlight
one must
cover
the feet

baby bok choy
(for alice)

i saw you
up there
up there at the shop
where plants climb
out of boxes
&
die in midair

i got a fright when i saw you

look
you said look
a baby bok choy
fallen
on the floor 
in a skirt of leaves
midst the pallor
of
ambitious turnips

black roses
(for alice)

in a cradle of sleep
i bring you masks
your gallery
white
forbidden -
an egyptian tomb 

you keep black roses
in your bathroom
purchase spoons –
silver –
like unconsummated wombs

in a cradle of sleep
i bring you icons
a pink painting of you & me
crucified by our femaleness 

fallen moon
(for krishna & julius)

they called me
the Neria-Naria woman
-
the old kauri kitchen
a
womb
stuffed with
eagles’ feathers
smoking masks
weeping icons
of
mother & child
great dusty jars of golden honey
black honeycomb 
drowning
like millions of eyes
a leaping skeleton 
nailed 
to the wall 
a broken
blue basket
full of eggs

a small crossed window
where our lady - Constantina,
the goat -
thrust her white face
at dusk

the round table
a fallen moon
her wide crack
inviting sticky fingers
her scars
burns
her ancient trunk
her claws
clutching
a slumberous ball

the black-eyed sons
sat tipping on flimsy oval-backed chairs
crumbling homemade bread
calling for shop-bread
drunkenly pouring lemon drink
from a huge salt-glazed jug
her pink throat
throwing up drowning leaves
of mint

they slurped it up in spotted goblets
the kettle boiling – spilling
over the stove
the flame
sliding
up the chimney

© All Copyright, 2000, Christina Conrad.
All Rights Reserved. Printed By Permission.