piecework

pasiphaë rocks her infant
…….on her lap like any mother.
hush, little minotaur,
you are no monster. sshh. no more
…….than any other child & less
…….…….than theseus who left
ariadne on rock outcrop after she
…….gifted him with thread
…….…….to navigate / amaze

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we were on pins and needles that winter. we were on bobby pins. we were on pens and pencils. we were on pincers which could hurt when they caught you by the skin of your teeth then wouldn’t let go. we were on pinking shears and pink slips and pink hats. we were on pentagrams and instagrams and pentagons. we were on adapin. but we were not on pentimento. we promised ourselves that much. we would never be on pentimento

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discuss: picasso’s representation of women. girls. marie-thérèse. normalization. aestheticization of violence against women. this in a week following the suicide of another. she too had a face that looks good splashed across social. see her in profile. teenage girl her classmates saw as europa. watched under weight of minotaur. bull-man hiding behind bull-mask

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spin: to draw out. twist fiber into yarn or thread. to form thread. to revolve rapidly. to move swiftly. to set rotating. quantum character of sparticle

twist: to unite by winding. to mingle. to wring wrench dislocate. to distort. to pull off by torsion. to form into spiral. to cause turning. to follow a winding course changing shape. to writhe. act of turning. curve. bend. unexpected occurrence. as in plot. formed by twisting. thread. sewing silk. piece of dough. tobacco leaves. strip of citrus. a dance. spin given to ball. spiral turn. torque applied to body. strain. distortion of meaning. device. trick. front or back dive. eccentricity

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i dream in monster. edge of house & human. cut my finger on its paper thin blade. in battle of giant anthropod. oblivious to cataclysmic comedy. the room where we used to sit and read. what did we call it floored with rot & prairie grass pushing up powder. there were barricades between us & them. there were traps. the signs said keep an eye on the children

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the signs said keep an eye on the children. the signs said stay inside. stay calm. alert. the signs said not to approach the glass. but you keep peering into death even after i put up blackout curtains. i could always sew anything. i will so us a way out of this poem as soon as i hem the him of human. miter the seems of mother. we think something is out there. it might not matter. i might be sewing with disappearing

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monitaur the threads of you lead places we don’t want to follow. following lines of pvc. of pharmacology. of dextrose & fentanyl & vicodin. amaze me. bully me whole human. thread me an exit. lead us a home. no going path. make me a way. body me back

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threading the distance between us threading the windows threading the bicycle poised not midair you can see as the lights come up not house lights not hospital not helicopter but the god lights lighting up one more on this less than inevitable this maybe not so only so lonely s h e

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monster talked to monitor & monitaur replied & momster listened & monitor became monister & monster became moniter & mon(i)(s)ter put away their differance & became
…….the space between them

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& you know this is how you know what you don’t know. this finding the godlight. this belief this circle something. these blades that catch find require you to marry monster to monitor. so shadow shivers. so you prepare. so you sew ready

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it was winter & orfeo
if he always looks back to check
his chain traffic angular momentum
will he sentence me then

i will write that sentence myself
ride it & right it until I re-member

the turn the name this piece
…………re-member to flute
……………………it was winter monitor
it was monster

postcard from the museum of childhood #7

she’s so mother. so mid-life. so mid-
sentence balance & interrupt. so
juggle so long. every thought
toss toss dis-
connect. let alone words.
when the balls blades breakables
stop dropping she doesn’t
can’t never. what to do with the hands—
so open. so umbrella

postcard from the museum of childhood #8

Kandinsky at the Milwaukee Art Museum—
fluid shorthand, iconographic lines,
portable symbol kit that packs
at a moment’s notice. not fleeing. not holding
on. but strolling unarmed unharmed
through 40 years of politic. of risk.
St. Petersburg-Berlin-Moscow-Weimar-
Berlin-Occupied Paris. bag filled with
the essentials. curic & oars. barbed
wire fence. dragon. spear of Saint George

postcard from the museum of childhood #18

the museum of childhood. free admission.
gallery talks by appointment. free recorded
tours. collection highlights for short visits—
theatrical t-shirts & character photos. kindergarten
bird drawings. high school ceramics. legos.
18 porcelain birthday girls (#3 missing
their head). wooden trains, possible lead hazard.
middle school acrylics. class watercolor acquired at auction.
piano, cello, oboe, ice skates, cross country skis.
stuffed animals & dolls. baby blankets. crib bedding.
photo & document collections (e.g., test scores,
school projects). hand-knit sweaters. not all items on display