Keening
black infant-soft fur
since mother-wet my sister tended
wet again
lapis blue rings of eyes
chlorine tainted
as our father walked chatted
wandered around the house
forgetting the pool
uncovered
the curiosity of the strongest pup
its motherŐs only condolence
after a first litter lightning sold
sheŐd have kept her from the water
minded her careful
eight times over
she must have been watching
nose against the glass
or across the room known
the splash
as her blood slipped
every trice of my sisterŐs joy
under
she called today
keening as when a smaller self
would crawl hiccuping into my bed
750 miles crackled through the line
distorting our lamentations
she would not fit into my arms
aching for her
as hers in their own weightlessness
she only wanted one little thing to love
she was mine
we quieted to sleep
curled through the distance into each other
to escape
shroud our pain with the denial of dreams
ears muffled against the echoes
as once against their voices rising
the demons that haunted our nights
when we ran to each other
the ones they couldnŐt see
but I see her
taffy pulled reflection of the child
grasshopper limbs wrapped
tangled towards a taut ribbed center
the incense swirls over her its intoxication
and a man whose only friend was death
croons a lullabye of no solace into the room
ganglier round faced version of myself
I want to steal away
find something safe
dreaming tales of sibling escapes
to live in boxcars and wooded cabins
untouched and laughing
our playhouse door had a lock
on the outside
we would crawl in through a window
close the shutters to feel safe
and disappear
oranges stolen from a neighborŐs tree
garage sale books and babies
donŐt come home til whispertime
til Florida summer afternoons turn dark
from the mountains I look down to you
still tangled in the
in our past
so desperately torn from myself
carelessness
father
god
stole your only comfort
your little love
drowned
while you were away
my faces
lungs
are filled with water
phantom bodies in my hands
copyright 1996 Ginger Pierce Davis
