THE FIRST DAY OF LENT, For Hayley

For this angel we found in the swamp to whom I gave my thick chunk of heart-- I promise to dance for both of us.

the Sun came and shined for the first time in four days then 

I saw

           people

           hands raised

           ash smudges on

`          their foreheads I

puked in my mouth

I see

thin iced marsh

sago bush flower spikes

against the water’s surface

against the ceiling of Irish Bayou

against the roof of your silver Toyota

 

           your face

           and ballet legs

                                                cinnamon tongue

                      

 

gathered around you               a sago pondweed

slender roots branching veins bearing

elfin bushels of buds expanding underwater

           orchids swimming away from one another but still reaching

up

a raceme grew out of your open mouth

 

                                 

 

                     you bloomed

Reviews

[Brian]

It's always a body that brings out the cause. I just wish it was more often alive than without.

Lovely words.

[J Johnson III]

Ash Wednesday? "ballet legs", love it!