Saturday, February 19, 2011

I Know You from a Ragged Quarry

Unlike Siamese twins separated at birth,

there should be no physical tie between us,


no shared arteries, blood on the snow from one

is not blood on the snow from the other.


You throw off the light of a man who has tried

to solve himself against the bodies of many women.


I cast the shadow of a woman who

has used her body to bandage wounds.


You have the eyes of a man who leaves his truth

on the dresser and his history on the bed.


Back to back I am drugged with the leftover

chemicals of your lovers.


Unlike Siamese twins, separated at birth

there should be no pact between us,


but the light across the ceiling, the light across your shoulders,

the half drawn blinds tell a different story


of bitter amputation and putrid sheets,

the slow grind of granite against river rock.


We were never meant to be conjoined and still survive.


(Originally published in "Wicked Alice")

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