#24
by CHELLIS GLENDINNING
wisps of that Paris, you know which one
frescoes are cracked by shrapnel
manuscripts scrawled in ink, clacked out on Remington’s
raspy renderings of Parlez-Moi d’Amour
coarse-hewn wool, passion threads essence
Griffin chases truth in a café on the rue
I, in this caracól in Cochabamba
vino tinto lapping at glass buoys
and the cathedral is plastered white
we run neck-and-neck in pursuit
what, still?
muses afflict us with desire
#25
by CHELLIS GLENDINNING
it all happens so quixotically I mean
you can zero in on the molecules of a mosquito wing
you can ruminate on the tilt of the tango or the daily progression of fascists
you can contemplate the cancer that’s consuming your lover
or the voyage of Venus across the firmament
you can zero in or zero out
and never really know which windmill or if, Dulcinea
#27
by Chellis Glendinning
for Avi
O Israel, with your steel sand and olive detonations
you sent me your son
your cyclone of edges, armpits, cackling wool
he sunk his teeth into me, right to left
his 4000 years
in his presence I became a soldier, and then
a gardenia
Chellis Glendinning lives in Bolivia. She is the author of five books, including Off the Map: An Expedition Deep into Empire and the Global Economy, which won the U.S. National Federation of Press Women Book Award. She can be reached via www.chellisglendinning.org.
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