sedehaven

[sedehaven]

Pearl

the broken tire that led to the best roadside fried chicken, that ugly sweater in third grade (itchy, puke green)

that your new best friend was also forced to wear, the rain that kept you inside on a beach holiday, discovering

an author who made you feel -- these bits of grit, annoyances that you coat with iridescent shine, that you smooth into

something worth bringing out for cocktail parties and fancy company, stories of magic born from the sand of life

[sedehaven]

Spine

bone white, etched in nerves and gold with a title, sharp as spines,

run your finger down the length, careful, carefully, open it,

a new world, bound in bone and breath, sinew and skin,

dreams made flesh, ink, and paper

[sedehaven]

Niche

a space in the bricks, holding a spot of light, goldenrod, in glass votive holder

a prayer

in rose, in gardenia, in sweet vanilla and clove, in evergreen, scents changing with

seasons,

new candles to keep the dead company, to splash light across the wall and hold back

this eternal night

[sedehaven]

Going

the news says that they will be going,

by plane, by truck, by train, by bus

they will be going, like old dogs to a

nice farm, with a red barn and chickens,

like jews going to a camp to work and

become free, they are going, they are going,

the children are waving from the windows and

the women cover their faces with their hands,

the men are weeping, as they go

[sedehaven]

Frail

shivering in spite of the broiling orange flames, curling in like burning parchment,

this child, so frail, belly bloated with hunger and parasites,

fragile bones like milky glass, snapping under the jackboots of men

who claim to bring the new dawn

[sedehaven]

Tally

in sixth grade

we walked up to the chalkboard, and drew a line, each of us, to teach us about the dead

(in poland, in germany, in ukraine, in russia)

when you made your mark, you went to the back of the line, to do it again, to show how

endless death is, how mechanical -- but i froze, chalk in hand, unwilling to add a

mark (a corpse) to the tally, to the pile, i could not, but others did, pushing around

me, giggling to be doing something in class besides sit down, shut up, face forward -- i stood there

with my chalk, and cried for a ghost that i couldn't tally up, ship off, gas, and send up a chimney

[sedehaven]

Visor

a country so bright that you hold your hand up to shade your face, a peculiar salute, it

slants the light, this visor, focuses the eye until the light burns sodium arc orange,

the color of nuclear blasts in japan, the color of napalm fire, the color of children

burning

in gaza, the color of outgassing fires over the mississippi, the color of the coyahoga,

hazard stickers, road cones, flares, molotovs, danger, warning, here it comes, the land of the free, when

you squint, when you raise your hand to the light, under this visor of flesh, you can see lady liberty on her pale horse,

harbinger

of the home of the brave

[sedehaven]

Tacky

full-blown ruby and salmon hibiscus on a field of royal purple, stamens leafed in gold, generously cut to

flirt with passing breezes, flamingo pink hair, glasses, and kitten heels, a wide shiny gold belt and bangles,

hoops with palm trees crossed hanging from each ear, pulling the lobes, her neon pink lips are a gentle smile, so welcome

and so joyful, the hipsters part like gray jelly and she shines -- a velvet elvis on a wall of greige, the first dandelion in an old

strip mine, tacky and perfect, our lady of perpetual polyester

[sedehaven]

Uvula

spongy pink teardrop of flesh, quavering at each high note, vibrato,

swinging like a ruddy pendulum, this vestigial knot of tissue, and yet,

when it was removed, nancy honked like a goose every snore, decades flying

south, nightly, til she died

[sedehaven]

Primp

the slick of lipstick across untouched lips, eyelashes coated and curled, a sharpened

stick of kohl to line eyes, to darken blond brows, hair glossy and swept up, away

from milk white neck, a kiss of blush where cheekbones ought to be, so much work for

one night in a sweat stained gym, a mix tape in a borrowed boom box, crepe paper and misery

[sedehaven]

Flown

feels like feathers brushing the wind, these names, soft breath rising from

lips barely moving, a prayer to light candles for the spirits of the living, the angels and

demons of the belltower, the quad, the dormitory -- ghosts of children long flown, whose mortal coils

persist, hunched and gray and chatting about the weather

[sedehaven]

Stoic

pulling shards of glass out of his thin, pale arm, bleeding like a barber's pole, sweat glistening

on his naked shoulders, silent, teasing another piece from beneath his skin, face still as deep

water, so mother would not hear, i stared at him, dripping blood on his jeans, his sneakers, no

sound but the dripping, mom still unaware, and i said, "okay, but how are you gonna hide

that busted window?"

[sedehaven]

Inner

draw back the heavy curtain, to splash light and color across the empty canvas of dream --

roses bloom over jungle green grass, twining around wrought iron that nobody ever added to a

city made equal parts of every place i've loved and hated, populated by fairies, dragons, sirens, ghosts,

proles, blood suckers, and bureaucrats -- paper dolls of people i knew, cut and pasted, reimagined

and placed on stage, spotlit, given lines, put through ten rehearsals, this rich inner world that drops ideas,

punctual as a dandelion clock

[sedehaven]

Swell

the ruddy gleam of skin pulled too tight, shiny as a plastic sky, liberty's rictus grin,

hands (like claws) reaching for her softest parts,

it's swell, we're swell, this whole country is swell, swelling like a green-rot boil

begging for the lance

[sedehaven]

Ready

counting at the tree, eyes closed, as corn fatted children of golden hair and silver

spoons dart to the tall grass, the dead trees, the gray rocks, and bloody bibles that

promise them shelter,

ready or not, here we come, the huddled masses yearning to breathe

free

[sedehaven]

Octet

throb and thrum of long strings, rumble like thunder over polished wood, the harp steps lightly, delicate

plink of rain or prayer beads falling, falling -- as violins soar, buoyed on the strong necks of cello and bass,

eight friends dancing together, a whirl of sound, dropping delicate as a waterspout, flinging notes (like raindrops)

from strings and bows and fingertips

[sedehaven]

Vinyl

two bright pennies hold down the plastic arm, a lazy steel finger finds the groove, and

she sings,

this spectral voice, a siren's ghost, she sings me the story of dreamboat annie

and her ship of dreams