go west

and the sky heaved a sigh of relief
as your walking steps near
the door taking you
out into your new fantastic.

you head west, away from the sun,
which rises as you move.
and when the the occident nears,
you'll stop your motion and watch the
setting over water, which plays dog
with the shore catching each kiss
and relaying each slap.

when my set moves, as your sets
will continue to move with instability,
i will go to you.

i crave you.

just like i gave you
my word
that i wouldn't call you
at three a.m.
hoping that you would
in a sleep-induced stupor
take back all those cruel things

that you never said.

why did we marry in the first place?
when we could have had brand-new red lights
full of flight and fury and sound and wind
with none of these burdens and children

and blowing leaves all scattered through our brightness.

your pen of doom hovers over our joint checking account.
you type our expenses into loving spreadsheets detailing our rendezvous
not in paris, nor portugal.

how did we get to this place?
where the snow crackles beneath my slim fingers with too loose
ring edging slowly off.
where light only seeps into the edges of our days.

photosynthesis

created for a women's studies assignment: create a new translation of sappho's "poem of jealousy" based on 28 previous translations by more important poets than me.


tremble, tremble, leaf-me;
shake loose of limb overlooking
pale grass which crunches and
yields under feet of beloved she.

he, holding her precious hand,
knows more of fortune than many
who aspire to wisdom of gods'.
and i wither from where i stand.

my tongue, once lithe and able,
resembles a clod of dirt, stuffed in mouth.
my eyes, which have looked upon the
brightest of triumphs, see only in sable.

as she passes, arm linked and gaze turned,
my mind blinks and my attempt for light is spurned.