partial as she is to escape

here or there or in outer space

landscapes draw blanks on pages

she rages 

when lovers go fretful in

gardens wet full of

evil poetry

tears perfected butterfly wings

slander left her feet in the race

drunk and spare 

on the garden settee

partial as she is to escape

here or there or in outer space

she’ll sit on a bench

in a conservatory garden

noting seeds racing for glory

blooming like fuck in an uneasy climate

urban and starlike and owned

by those outside of her

she’s older now and wiser by none

keeps to herself

now that life has gone faster

than her

nothing more has to rhyme

partial as she is to relate

handshakes don’t remember when

she wasn’t in love

when she wasn’t disarming

in a garden so public and hidden as well

she’s thick as the hide on a sacred cow pelt

her limbs are like spiders on speed

she leans into the work counting out loud

the marvelous presence of seed

she’ll sit on a bench

in the conservatory garden

noting seeds racing for glory

 

bent over records she’s meant to keep

a gleaner of seeds like you and me

from well-armed consultants those fucking bastards

she bends with a dancer’s knee

full throttle ecstasy

leaving pain in the holding position

again

nyc 10.1.24