Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsFall 2018  Vol. 17 No. 2
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an online journal of literature and the arts
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back LISA RUSS SPAAR

Mistress Madrigal

After parting, warp & weft always.
The world in cupric dissolve, the “un” in sun,
a faux mendicant dis-weaving to ward away
the mated hoi polloi, and make it run.

Green apple, blue nun, reappear:
gold cartouche dawn makes of every turn:
case, magazine, spool & unspooled fray.
Derived from carta, “paper,” burn & burn,

houses, pond, & now we’re back to dusk.
Love in all its aberrations, shapes.
She carries within their oval, etched in musk,
complete charges, held in vitrine time.

Fluids, fricative, coaxed scrolls, threads,
wavery with prayer. They multiply un-dread.