Big Bridge #10

Export: Writing the Midwest

 

Mary Kasimor

 

                    location is everything            before the land even spoke coherently
there is another place to go to carry it away                         a portable
current plugged in and boxed                                      take me away
                         then down the tongue’s
curling current (speaks everything)        acres of tom and
            john
a budget manufactures bridges out of thin air
                                 combustible intellect makes
them light up into seed                     keep the lily skin         plants
hardy                 black top extends decisions         pie under glass
                                                             a modicum of integrity
good neighbors build brick houses                 the family name        ascending
                  the young trees
show thin veins                                old women sitting in their kitchens
                                guarding thin glass

 


long red fingernails are
             so subtle
and so sharp           do you speak
that way also?
                                The earth’s agitation
smells of rosebuds underground        or a ghost
who steals thorns from your grandmother
when you fill your journal
                    with lists
(my) mother’s silver
an advertisement                    flawless skin
more lists          between you and me
     stick with meat and potatoes
did your childhood prepare you for this?
                       quit asking me questions
I’m hopeful            I have a mcDonald
         mansion I have a disposable life
I have two children            like nursery rhymes
                       (I’ve decorated their rooms)
    like nursery rhymes        I’m the queen of
          hearts
I’m a wild rose       a natural habitat learning
to dwell
                           with breast cancer
                                       my wild fire desires
with a bread recipe from my grandma


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