washed up<\/p>\n
watching a spider sway<\/p>\n
as minutes turn<\/p>\n
to wine<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
sitting, starring ahead<\/p>\n
thinking I was<\/p>\n
something once too<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
drinking straight<\/p>\n
from the bottle<\/p>\n
as the spider<\/p>\n
dangles by its<\/p>\n
fine thread<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
leaning forward<\/p>\n
I whisper hang on<\/p>\n
and offer her<\/p>\n
a drink<\/p>\n
eroticised landscape<\/p>\n
of beauty and gesture<\/p>\n
in acrylic<\/p>\n
and ink<\/p>\n
the blonde<\/p>\n
in black stockings<\/p>\n
high steps,<\/p>\n
her thin long legs<\/p>\n
moving outward from<\/p>\n
the centre<\/p>\n
I ask if<\/p>\n this is everything<\/p>\n he gestures no<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I wait for<\/p>\n something to follow<\/p>\n a smile curls<\/p>\n across his face<\/p>\n he whispers Breathe<\/p>\n that is all<\/p>\n at first nothing<\/p>\n says different from<\/p>\n any lady you<\/p>\n might meet, then<\/p>\n you consider there<\/p>\n might be a<\/p>\n gentleness, a quiet<\/p>\n cachet that you<\/p>\n did not notice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the \u201cgot poetry\u201d<\/p>\n t-shirt is<\/p>\n out of place –<\/p>\n a soccer mom<\/p>\n cheering for Neruda.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But when she<\/p>\n speaks the pages<\/p>\n don\u2019t match the<\/p>\n cover – pouring language<\/p>\n into the air<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the words dissolve<\/p>\n into a soft<\/p>\n song until the<\/p>\n thirst you didn\u2019t<\/p>\n know you had<\/p>\n passes.<\/p>\n I waited<\/p>\n for the moment to explode<\/p>\n like a tight packed<\/p>\n firecracker<\/p>\n watching the wick burn<\/p>\n until the present<\/p>\n burst into memory<\/p>\n becoming dreams<\/p>\n littered by<\/p>\n disappointment<\/p>\n remembering<\/p>\n the brilliant<\/p>\n lights of youth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All Things Cling washed up watching a spider sway as minutes turn to wine sitting, starring ahead thinking I was something once too drinking straight from the bottle as the spider dangles by its fine thread leaning forward I whisper hang on and offer her a drink Burlesque eroticised landscape of beauty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":203,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"authorpoetry.php","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-217","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":950,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions\/950"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtls.ca\/issue9\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nGuru<\/h1>\n
The Lady Disguised as a Poet<\/h1>\n
(for Deanna)<\/h6>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nLamentation<\/h1>\n