Splayed fingers, hidden rings.

Poetry 1995–96

Dreams of the Red Witch

action:

smooth curve of red scented hair

caught in my breath

image:

slender fingers embedded

push-deep through thick fur

process:

sleekness of temptation gliding

over my swollen body

taste:

slight salty syrup drop on this-

Red Witches Breast

her supple dancers frame

clothed in tidy perfect garb

that satisfies my aesthetic lust

and burns my uncovering desire

she casts a taller shadow

black rising to a brimmed point

weave me into the fabric of

her

spin this tense passion out of

me

a boiling spell she's cast

black like her shadow and

hidden under vision alluring

i ask favors from my minds new

denizens, a friendly family

of shiny fat red demons

action:

yellow teeth grin eyes narrow

twist glistening stubby horn

image:

head snapped back arched back

trembling prayer hands

process:

sparkflash send veins smolder outward

slow burning skeletal leaf

smell:

fireandbrimstone!fireandbrimstone!

the moist cut of a new fairytale...

princes wake from enchanted sleep

but witches do the kissing

princesses peel off layered masks

while giants walk and weep

the red hair curtain falls

over made-up happy endings