nib of ice
nib of ice
a digit poised pierced a series
of death rays pricks the invisible brilliance of night women’s shadows file past me
past light call out in silence dreamt in theft written in blanks filed away past sleep
purchase sleek machines of communication but silence rules the roaming
brunette men sit in corners in cafés bleeding gorgeous
black indifference rose cheeks and fine soft chests glow
almost beardless in vintage shirts and trousers
buried in books and screens
consistently resistant
to tentative windows
withstand entreaty
like saplings
too-early October storms
so subvert the green cliché
young shoots snow-split
me the red stone
the root from which you strain
lyric syllabic stem it strains away
sweet neck from the dangled blade
charitable noose unknot my lips
up on a soap-box stool I trip
burn all my closed-mouthed children first cut out all their tongues
Posted 10/01/12