LIKE THE FAT BIRTH

  by Bates Corlieu

like the fat birth swinging
in the galloping mare
I dream in hammock motion
wait for some light to leak
wonder if others fear
the tree’s revenge
of gallows and crosses
or wading barefoot in shallow sanity
I don’t
though perhaps I should

i fear the tongue
stripped of her only beauty
hanging in the air
though I carry a scarlet umbrella
against that carnivorous day
keep the clocks in the cupboard
and continue my search
for what could be called
a hand-hewn heart