crossing hackensack

 

Crossing the Hackensack

 

Asylum

 

You smiled
When I said
I loved you,
The moment
I saw you
Standing swollen,
Your round belly
Bearing the seed of another.

I wondered:
Where you lived as a child…
How you learned to write your name…
Who kissed you first…

I never thought
Reason should be
A creature to fear,
Tirelessly travelling
A trail of bedlam,
Asylum to asylum.

But your smile that day,
The way your body swayed,
Made me swim
In your ocean,
Crawling
From between your legs
When you were ready
To unfold me.

Ours is a curious coupling,
Not near or far—
A foot on land,
One foot by sea;
This slow retreat,
Two twigs asleep
In twilight’s shadow.

One morning
I will fix you a sandwich,
Iron your favorite dress,
Walk you by the hand to school,
And when they ask me
Who claims you,
We will turn into golden birds
And fly away.

 

 


 

 

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