Always quieting
my angry, boiling temper,
turns my insides black

...

Hello, my name is...
I've stopped believing in the...
I'm the problem with...

I'm SO done with fear.
If I can't accept myself,
who possibly can?

Stressful situations
left my chemical make-up
for experiment

My soul, my being;
embryonic, plasma-like
and so sensitive

Accepting my faults. Ha!
Like I could ever do that.
They just don't get it.

Dutiful Wife

“Love” as an action
On his hands and in his mind,
and I feel no touch

Passion on his mind
and pouring from his penis;
my body is numb

Although emotions
pour from my eyes, he never
wipes the tears, asks why

Fear covers my skin,
exudes from my secretions
while he smells perfume

Only one body
attends the intertwining
only one mind runs

He won’t ever touch;
I am impenetrable
he will NOT have me

My body is cold,
his anger throbs, pulsing; mad.
My heart is still warm

My eyes remain dry
temporarily hollow
while his juices drip

He connects body
and nails mine to the bed-post
I feel my soul die

My body gets cold
My heart stopped years ago. This;
my wifely duty

My impaled head smiles
Garishly transfixed and forced
My neck holds its farce

A knot scarrs my back.
Beautiful, protective wings
-plucked from my shoulders.

Hide indside the crack
Flesh forced to collide with stone
It's the wall I built

Anxious telephone
Worst bad-news-bearer of all
Vibrating my fear

My daughter with lice
From my ex-husband's they come
My son with a slice

WCW

What happens to faith
beside a wet wheelbarrow
pecked by red chickens?

Creative and fun
Spoke to me more than Jesus
Jim Henson's my man

I broke out in hives
I may be twitching slightly
A new pariah

Trott, trott, to Boston
Trott, trott to Lynne.
Will I fold or win?

Shortly after hope
a cigarette gets put out
in my teary eye

Que quierres Lorca?
Nueva York, pero porque?
El es escritor.

Ich liebe Rilke
Rilke liebte Rilke an
Und so, einer Kunst

Solipsistic man,
why do you write Orpheus?
Your sonnets are shit.

You selfish woman
Everyone's nine months are long
Eat an apple, choke

Dearest Sylvia,
I too am friend Lazerous.
Your companion, -me

My dad underestimates
Me as the mother I am
Strong, wise, and selfless

It is amazing
when used to second guessing
to realize you're right

Today I was brave
Said that I can't marry him
My children come first

Gaging my earlobes
A pair of studs without points
Though age might not match

e.e. dropped his leaf
an ivy grad of world war
one, etcetera

Hampton beach lobster
My mom's favorite birthday gift
-Seafood fest, N.H.

Playing with my kids
in the sand, making castles,
under the pier's cool

Follow the river.
Though you never remain still;
you might yet find peace

When plucked the right way
a fiddle is joy, dance, light!
Mind you, play it well

Belly slit for feast
Seems all my parts are fair game.
Who shall my heart feed?

Fierce dragon wings fly
Extinguishing her own light
The fire breathes no more

she was in the floor
her visage beneath the boards
and I saw her there

Do I want sun? Moon?
I am aware of my own
dichotamous rot.

I tighten word-choice
And limit my verbiage
Resonate, clear voice

Rotting cavities
nose-candy rushes like teeth
to newborn habits

An eternity
Until I call my children
Hour and a half more

When purpose is lost
and my effort -exhausted
it's hard to give back

"When company comes"
I shall dine at the table
With friend, Langston Hughes

Can the unemployed...
sitting in kitchens, in shame,
...sing America?

The send me away
Then fail to see the beauty
of wasted talent