Shiner by Maggie Nelson

Author:Maggie Nelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zed Books
Published: 2018-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

For Lily on Her 25th Birthday

1.

You, the dark blue

of the sheet, the sin

she’s guilty of, the ice-

crust of a Roman sea.

Sweet pea with a pacifier

of twigs and mulch, this

much you had—eyes of sea-

groped glass. Who you were

then I know now:

Eros kissing Psyche,

water over stones,

milk spilt over a rosary.

2.

Grown up and walking down the avenue

A walking stick of silk

Led by invisible chariots

or weeping in a cab

Sister why you so sad?

She who raged in you

made you ball up & turn blue

She was trying to cover up

the stench of wisdom.

It can’t be done. You

are mother and dolphin in one,

a collage of lost evenings.

3.

Looking for you I wander

into awnings, hollering

at the sleet. It’s you

who don’t lie to me.

The slender gray cat

sniffing at the violets

stole your eyes, Lily,

as you slept. Left you

blind and soft as

the nugget at the root

of it all.

4.

Do you hear the captain

punching tickets? We’re leaving

the station. We move in

and around large sounds.

Now, for the chalked-up meeting

of our hearts.

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