Spring 2010 - Vol. 7, Issue 2

For Naomi

 

 

I wanted a child,

But she didnʼt come. 

You have a lovely little girl here.

 

They didnʼt tell me youʼd be deaf and

Fucked up.

God didnʼt say so either.

In ancient Greece,

I would have had you

Exposed, as Oedipus was --

Stranded in an open place,

So Nature would swallow you.

 

But he was a king –

He needed to live. 

You will be no queen.

 

How could I have gotten

This female Quasimodo?

Your shriveled fist is cement,

Clamped down,

A floppy slab at my touch.  

Your hands are hooks,

Claws,

Your fingers are spider legs,

Not wine glass stems.

 

I sink your head below water.

 

God, please take her back.

 

The bubbles rise.

 

No one wants you.

 

The bubbles stop.

 

 Especially not me.