If an orchidophage’ s tastebud magnified
resembles an orchid
so my buds indubitably mimic pricking ice cream cones.
Love, little by little it dawned on us the artisanal
ice cream, especially the prizewinning caramel,
would be out of our reach,
like the previous Friday of a Sunday leaving the beach,
in the meltdown.
The redbreast kills
and kills itself against
the window
Sooner or later the blood in the breast will break the window into hundreds of pieces you can swallow whole
Keep swallowing
The redbreast
loves you and wants you
to remember the love
So it makes you puke into the toilet blind
I was blinded by love
And drowned
in an empty bathtub
spitting up birdshit
Covered in red feathers
Amongst dogs are listeners and singers.
My big dog sang with me so purely,
puckering her ruffled lips into an O,
beginning with small, swallowing sounds
like Coltrane musing, then rising to power
and resonance, gulping air to continue —
her passion and sense of flawless form —
singing not with me, but for the art of dogs.
We joined in many fine songs — "Stardust,"
"Naima," "The Trout," "My Rosary," "Perdido."
She was a great master and died young,
leaving me with unrelieved grief,
her talents known to only a few.
