Grateful acknowledgment is made to Joel Weinstein's Mississippi Mud (OR) which first published this poem.
from the collection WHERE IS THE FALSE PIANO?
New Sizzler Diseased
(A native women investigates
My premises—
Her sudden flush and rude
Scrambling away leaves behind
Curved, exotic disturbances
In the air.)
I broke my spoon.
I need a bigger allowance.
In the seeming heart of spring
Sloths tumble from weary trees
And crash senseless to the ground
Their vast hulks immediately
Inhabited by all sorts of refugee
Testicles
Seeds escaped from unbearable hosts
Water babies.
Copyright © 2000 by R Bartkowech