Beauty Is The Beast

Published December 30, 2013 by rlmcdermott

It’s never why
it’s only when
the extra letter
fits the pain

a man
a tree
a long-haired girl

remind you of the moon

you once believed
but now you don’t

all courage in an empty cup

you drink to him

gall is made
from wine
gone bitter
in a broken heart

you turn away in shame

Narcissus at the touching pool

enthralled by what he sees–

beauty is the beastAfter Klimt

The Ibis

Published December 23, 2013 by rlmcdermott

I take you
back a
thousand
times a day

and let you
go because
it is my way

all your red
is just an
artifact of blue

what I really love is death

you weren’t
real because
you weren’t him

small gods are not the ones to love

and so I cast
my lyre into the
sea and tuck
my head beneath
my wing–a bird
standing on one leg
I wait beneath a paper tree
for death to comfort meThe Ibis

Postmortem

Published December 21, 2013 by rlmcdermott

all hair
and teeth
and bone

she is the
rhythm in
this poem

her days
are numbered

she stops
to slow
them down

the old cowpath
the barrels
the apple tree
the gray porch

her father
coming home
carrying
his bones

the men on
the loading dock
calling her name

this is what she remembers

a young girl’s life

danger everywherePostmortem