Love Poem for Three
Before pillow talk upon such things
you threw a shoe at me
said I didn’t know anything about cooking
or poetry or New Yorker cartoons
cha cha boots, I said, like Miss Spector
did you know she talked to rainbows
& smoked cigarettes in the bathroom
of the birthplace of the Twist
o no nostalgia only goes so far
How happy I used to be
when you had a job
at the Macy’s cosmetic counter
when you’d bring home jasmine
& hundred petal roses rare as Sèvres porcelain
One finger over, one finger under
I feel you glean, & wriggle
& snap, o god—
I long for amnesia
of Pepsi stands in Puerto Rico
of boats & vessels & Public Gardens
squalls of seagulls, the Thursday Daily
one hit wonders, books in cinema
target archery in a fierce green meadow
of rain & Longfellow & brûléed Brie
my heart, my
heart in a red jumpsuit
before your pillow talk broke me
in two.
The Birthday Party
for Sean
To flute and string like long ago
lethal, unarmed, hand-to-hand combat
o what a surprise
brightness begins after the blackout
see how the boys next door play musical chairs
and someone is telling a joke, and that one
in the loincloth with HELL painted across his chest
isn’t his mother a Pinter scholar?
We’re milking some autobiographical tidbit, I know.
There’s Sylvia popping balloons
with her funny pink teeth, soliciting darkness
to release the bats —squeak, squeak
the tattletales are at it again, and William
is burning the narrow shed
with minutes to go until the chariot race
isn’t his father an amateur billiards player?
The belle of the ball might know
about the mutiny in heaven,
why the candle has a tongue like a javelin throw,
now the boys are doing her head in
jumping the walls with their fierce confections
to kindle, to burn, to toughen or temper—
round and round in a bluntforce kiss
like the jackets and zippers at St. Elizabeths.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Damon Hubbs is a poet from New England. He’s the author of three chapbooks and a full-length collection, Venus at the Arms Fair (Alien Buddha Press, 2024). Recent publications include The Crank, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Spectra, Horror Sleaze Trash, & Suburban Witchcraft Magazine.
Image generated on Magic Studio
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