The China Poems.

Seemingly unrelated. But in my head, they are too similar to say.

I. The New Savanna

this morning, i
executed my new saturday tradition of smoking in the
bathroom and
filling the tub up with
water and soap
and never climbing in,
just flicking my ashes into it
insted of letting them singe
my skin
and i thought of you
and where you might be sleeping
and what you might be thinking
and wondered how you could be capable of either.

my toes curled on the tiles
and i picked at them
with my left hand,
not burdened with a joint,
and the curve of my body shimmered
back in watery reflection,
my nuidty a rubber gold
like a quiet lioness
and i felt the hunger to
hunt you
and feed my cubs
but i just stirred the bubbles and debris
with my toes instead.

my mind is a muddy blur now
so i crack open a window
and taste sun, breeze, earth, smoke, and spit
and then i sit
back on the tiles
and watch them squirm
newly liquid
and i growl at them
asking the room, the floor, the smoke, myself:
why did you stop loving me?
why did i have to make you leave?

i'm a lioness, but i have no pride.


II. Alexander's Hammock

everyday i look up through
the clouds made of canaries
and move as if through laughing gardens
cutting an iris at its knees
and i clasp at the loitering fog
to make their beds into my pillows
and i say a feminine prayer,
will you sleep with me there?
i picked our wedding quilt
off of the cherry tree
sleep with me here
i've played musical flower beds
i promise i'm not scared.

grass bends and buckles
forming playhouses for pygmies
i topple them with my thumbs
and i feed them to the breeze
there's water in the ocean
running through my skin and up the trees into their bellies,
bees mak a hungry buzzing
and i know it's time to eat
graze the picnic blanket with your lashes
and i'll join you at the feed
i'll bake your bread and suckle honey
if you promise not to leave.

there's a forest in your
bedroom
there are forces in my
bedroom
let's make a fort out of our
bedroom
and have spiderweb dreams.

pour your milk and eat your cookies
then come curl up next to me.