"Outside the Palace" and other poems

Outside the Palace

Across the stone bridge my cart rattles
each raised rock a jolt of destiny
I have not loved wisely or with discretion
my father's choice was not my own
my own choices unacceptable
the women betray me for high favor
the men turn from me with denials
fear rocks them with ripples of swift lies
I loved them closely and deny nothing
It is February and my valentines fall
behind the power of the throne
For the moment my head is high
the countryside is gray with winter
no one dares whisper a last good-bye
The archbishop presses a cloth to his lips
he was the one man I could not tarry
or bear to touch even with gloved fingers
My husband drinks wine in his rooms
his large head bent in self-righteous grief
he is a fickle man with strange needs
From my last curtsy I observe
the rounded eyes of these cold people
they watch for the drop of my bright cloak
to fill their drab lives with color.

---

Columbus

Columbus, see how your rapier's eye
follows the salt birds into horizons
Your three women dress as ships
free themselves in sails
left behind you is the woman that sits
in stiff command
She fears nakedness next to the plague
and open herself to no one
Columbus, see how you have lost
your sense of direction but persist
and replenish your supplies
In the loud darkness of long nights
you may name an island
anything you wish
love the moon when she wanders
from the clutch of clouds
steer your free women
with a firm hand
split the sea in a triumph
of manly destiny
But see how the queen watches
the width of your shoulders
the defiant stance of legs, and senses
a restlessness that narrows
her heart in termination
to crush your lust
with a heavy crown

---

The Carrion Cleaner

See here, I have descended
to unburied leavings that spoil
as the spirit moves on
I am the gourmet of feathers,
fur, flesh, and bones
Death has feasted me
with an invitation I smell
above all aromas
I grow fat on accidents
and natural disasters
Groom myself with the oil
of cankering
See how I gleam, how black
my shining, how sharp of eye
Note how I rip and tear
the caricatures that are spent
Admire how I clean my space
and my regal ascent