Anthropology

Bred in rock, soundless like the urge to take spirits, stoneface skinned, shine stripped, a woman’s ritual: to rest her weight on one leg then the other.

Painter

Limonite eyes of a manchild, a chimerism, song without spelling, and prayer. Now you must guess most everything else about me.

Stele

Occupying temples is not enough. Elevate the man in a tablet that withstands sandstorms. Leave out plumbing, schools, stoves, reed mats, but brag about turning captives into slaves.

Song

Someone soon will be insignificant, but now they are served all the rhymes— largeness squeezed onto the notehead. The squeezing is the only way everyone will buy this.

Tall One

I steal your dreams and run as far away with them as I can while never leaving your side. I need you to believe. How else could I grasp you by the throat? I am a dragon, morphine, a knife.

Rumor

Blueberry lattice pie laced with lemon— a blister forms in the mouth while the sweetness runs along the perimeter. And they say there is no such thing as magic.

Newsprint

See “The Tall One” replace “dream” with hallucination. What’s unwritten can’t be forgotten.

Novel

In this version, you served a chilled martini that flew into your palm while you thought of a rowboat with rusted oars and what had been your second kiss. His hair is grey now, and mood seems unsure. He leans towards the door.

Dance

Princesses, paupers, finger-pointing, bridges crossed, but not everyone crosses. Even if forgiveness is in the air, people die. The Queen’s hands encircle one another; she always seems to be the last to know.

Taste

One sentence fragment at a time; cumin, cinnamon, paprika, nutmeg, cardamon, sumac, peppercorn, aniseed, myrtle; the spices unfurling migration and ending in plastic wrap.