understudy:
second-born
with salmon-pink bones
ossified her fragility
her hair, her hair
her sunburnt hostility
billowed sobs
at the sound of falling
frozen little peas

the scent of cloves blanketed the room
bitter cigarette, a single swig of cognac
knock back
knock back
& bow
slender flaws
falling eight, nine, ten
those who veil their pains
I’ve seen you
say none & I nod

under feet:
plum stained
pavement
gravel lightly tumbled
toward macadam
muses,
[once upon a time]

all in violet
pine to pine
with pale mauves {above}
lolled lone
with blue knees

controlled strain
& untamed eyebrows
forged forward
as I quietly stitched
my own flesh
circling freckles I couldn’t
remember

dainty & depthless
scalloped misgivings along hems
chided
me
in the three-way-vanity
B-O-R-E
pried another Eve

footsteps
in the vestry

arose
she rose
we rose
vexed

rich, rich,
ruby rich
acrid angels sing
with mirthful bellyaches
which, which
saint Sonofabitch
my acrid angels’ off spring

lucid whites
& violet throats
they cut down the tallest
cedar