In the misery-chasm of the mind, a snowmist blossom
is a charity-blessing.
I see my future; obese church-beggar,
knotted hair fallen into blind courtyards.
Tampons, dressings bathe bloody scalpels,
a dog suckles two white lambs;
a shrill reality in the dream, a nameless
open wound is their existence.
Far fire. Troops of ghosts are forever
flowing slowly like a convoy of vans
carrying meat in the wee hours.
The dew in my palm mirrors a face.
My aunt, porcelain-pale, lies lightly
on the iron bed in the alms-hospital, eskimo
soapstone-sculpture, translucid from bed-sores;
I pick up your pea-memories dropped along the path,
I learn your tattooed camp-number. The carrion-
consuming wind howls ---
My dead dog's mouth is shut. Human and beast,
they are relatives in the agony. Barb-wired pines;
terrible spring makes the sky tremble.
On unbreakable roofs, the snow is a feast.