DiaBLOGue

Leda, when Helen leapt 
in your womb was it 
like this? Ankles swollen 
under the weight 

Otis Redding and Ulysses knew something about sitting
at the edge of the world, trying to remember 
the changing shades of the sea at home, 

Dwarfed by other forms of life, the leaves fall 
into this world without cadence that changes colors
each time it kisses something goodbye. 

You said to wait but how I wanted to be free again
Find a way to get a taste of the fruit from off that tree again 

The Day of Judgment hangs above my neck just like a flaming sword
Each night the angels say it’s time to enter my plea again

The angels’ wings are molting, so I’ll make my pen.
Sound me down to earth or hell, but let me take my pen. 

You can’t be afraid of cuts, she says, 
showing her hands 
beautiful with scars. 

The way he leaves a banana-mayo sandwich
on the counter. His special blend
of applesauce with too much cinnamon
brims over a white glass bowl. 
The scratchy blue-and-green-car sheets
left folded on the hide-a-bed.