FELINE GREEN
Joan Papalia Eisert
i would've been
the mother love
with spindly fingers
for your face
a hollow neck
for your head
i would've been
the sister love
with a tilted ear
for your lies
a suasive gaze
for your reluctance
i would've been
the woman love
with a pliant body
for your surrender
a dark soul
for your validity
but i am
the lidless love
without sound or spine
skulking around your others
poising scaling
anxious to pounce
i imagine being old
when the liquid pain
and nauseous anger
travel in different veins
s not much light
to work by in this cave
ve been chipping away in
for thirty-eight years
deaf to the buzzing
in my head
and my breath comes out
in bludgeoned shovels
i catch and hug
the blood of my womb
before it all
sinks to my feet