for willfully snatching out the stars
from the sorrow-worn face of the sky;
it eats no rainbows and won’t be intimidated
by pointy dentures of a defensive
but lion-willed night’s burning
having seen too many endless visitations
by blindness,
it does not fear bursting its concrete,
for its careless-picked
stones can only so much as fall into
the river begging by a pier
and be engulfed by a throat
knowing well the processes of deglutition:
the melting of saliva-acids
the journey towards warm blood.
(after Madonna)
bad girls wore plastic pants
the colour of garbage bags
and nails done in neon orange
hair spiked in curls smelling
like a can of spray;
in lipsticks daring black or green,
we clad in oxidized silver
straight from Cleopatra’s grave,
never called us virgins in uniforms
that dared to bare our knees;
bad girls wore block heels
with ankle straps
and invented break-dances
at parties of boys, the party
with boys,
the younger we got
the bolder we became
the older we grew
the quicker we tamed;
when tear-ruined mascaras
were no more a fashion trend,
when brown leather jackets
were no good girl games.
Beauty’s Survival Techniques
Pinned like an over-waited breath
on a shedding leaf on the verge
of falling off its faintly-hinged,
the snow rested on the protruding
bones of shoulders that bore lines
of the water husks she carried to
fields. Her life was simple as it was
a laboured joyous until the beast
happened. All of a sudden, there
were flowers, sunshine and buffets
that would grow flesh between her
skin and bones. Fountains of sweet
milk sprayed over luscious grass
her un-shoed feet thought was
like walking on air. Her heart swelled
with dreams that changed the lyrics
of her songs, and how the want
of a measly rose proved a successful
shot of a mindless arrow in the air.
Now, it was a matter of learning –
cutting away olfactory glands
for initiating closeness; puncturing
the irises for when of moments of
gazing; pasting the smile from
ever becoming a grimace; clevering
the mind for his increased diversion
elsewhere; and learning a spell to
keep him madly devoted to the ends
of time.