THREE POEMS BY REB LIVINGSTON


Retention

The sleigh is full of suitcases

Suitcases full of mammaries

These mammaries weigh me down

The sleigh is a wooden toboggan
that’s never been waxed

I never saw a sleigh trip
over a snowflake before
nor been quite so charmed by
a song about child abuse

Lugging around this extra weight
makes glaciers seem speedy
--that one over there,
I’ve named it “Lucas’s Ejaculation”

An only recollection of a one-time sweetheart


Clutch

for Anthony Robinson

Who wants this boxcar
waiting, these cardboard
tubes? I think everyone
wants each other’s
arms, those error-filled limbs
flailing everywhere but
around us. They
pull you in just so they can
shove you away.
There’s something to be said for that
whopping one person and its not
chopped liver or potato salad or
lemon asparagus.
Anthony, Tony, Antonio,
it’s all comparable, the
enemy, the friend, the untrustworthy lover
full of charm’s vandalism.
If you try to escape, they will
betroth you to a Dewey Dell
unsweet and looking for a fix.
Simple to spectacular. No, it’s
scrawling all over a beautiful postcard and
losing the return address. No, it’s always been the
arms, inviting, full of loving harm.


Brunch with Cordelia

Wicked meals cost, so we’re
Not eating the bacon strips
Not ordering coffee, not
Buttering our toast
Swine so sweet
We weep over
Pancakes, those aren’t our cruel
Breasts steeping in syrup, those
Ragged muffins are not our morning kisses
Crusted and ignored
Yesterday we were poolside, dancing
Sugar canes whisking mojitos
This can’t be our eulogy
What about the quest for our
Hearts and minds?
Didn’t anyone bother sending a search party?


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