BECOMING
ON BECOMING DETRITUS
Some light-footed animal stands testing the open door
of your cage Holding yourself close that you not escape?
Or cut through the net? Things drop clothes shoes bijoux
your rotting roof onto your head Didn’t you see this nail?
Didn’t you see this inky rot? Bitter roofer exhales
An entire family of boat people on your Juliete balcony How
did they arrive? There is no ladder no stairs Your husband sees
them +runs from the house Heidegger tome flaps in the breeze
That night you have a bacchanalian dream Those you know +those
you do not line up like costume ball refugees Not a few madwomen
in this menagerie
There is a whore’s ghost auctioning souls One by one those you know
are cut from the strand connecting you like paper figures scissored by
a child One by one they fall to the floor When Bacchus himself breathes
new life into your father he begins to gather you up One child at a time
One horse a billy goat +a rabbit Where he’s been sleeping dogs lie +his
name has mysteriously been changed to: A Man
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Summer 2017 Lee Atkins A Man May 21, 1921 – August 16, 1989
songanddancegirl 