{PERSONAL}
Yield velvety cursive ink, asphodel parchment petals...
A blanket of cloud, thick and white as milk, was hung, shedding flakes of snow,
Fat and glistening like grains of sugar, that powdered the roof's pine timber, shiv'ring cold.
Socked feet thump, a winding ravine to her door: small rough hands cradle a cool spout,
Fetched by square-toed boots and sweet corn husk drawl, jasper cheeks and shoulders, for sap.
For wings, chubby apricot fist clung 'pon pearly smiling willow - a branch wound a cherrywood bible.
Wheelbarrow's squeaky handle: heart yearns barren brambles burst honeyed plum-pink raspberries.
Giant evergreens, ancient hands wrapped in hundreds of waxy jade ribbons,
Fence Demeter's bosom: on velveteen hill's crest, count creases like years in dogs' pillowy ears,
Strong-armed, auburn-browed toilers culled emerald locks to penny fields - sprites lurk;
Brick-red chickens spear clover: robin-egg eyes mist, as stocking-feet remember pets by heart.
Wove finely braided rope 'round lamb's curious mouth, tug her wobbly limbs in grave silence,
Knight wheezing fireplace in gold; sit, head bowed, a dining table of skin-scrubbed pearls.
Floured, searing arms, butter-stained fingers, peel pears, pebble-rough, but bruised just so,
Stitches mahogany sticks, crowns of ochre brick barn. Sew egg carton, onion burlap 'to pinafores,
Brothers' cuffed jeans, blinking baby blue threads, mud thickets, drown pocket wild-flowers.
Collared thick-knit dresses, kiss of lace, shining apple red dripping in finest golden honey,
Past ruby brick schoolhouse, one foot, two foot, hand-in-hand to buttercream roses,
Hummingbird car: velvet garnet curtains draw back, Gabriel's wings, Atlas is a granite stage.
Gold tendrils, branches of Hephaestus' towers, and Penelope's nimbly crisscrossing yarns;
Heartstrings pluck, golden-ringed tortoise lute. Poinsettia coat nutcrackers, Leto-feathered swan
Queens. Fine-singing Helen: Danish kings swinging daggers of Olympus thunder, and lion-
Hearted maidens of fair Hecate's daughters. Ambrosia of
Apothecary tulip, lady of the lake lilies, laurel sumac, and Levantine tails of thyme; Athena
Anointed oil. Violet-breasted peacocks and saffron-kilned porcelain stallions, bronze
Knights tiger's eye and Brigid's pearls. Garnet copper freckles, ripe plum peony lips, a arrow-
Head's nose. Pentheselea waist, calves, like she.
Blinking stars moor current-tossed bow, compass of beckoning earths promising home:
Canvas night in watercolour paints, dancers of Shakespeare prick gentle scars in beeswax.
Porcelain table thrumming with moth wings - round eyes sunken in dewy cheeks stark-white,
A rooster cries out, honeyed and lilting as a marigold stem's rustling in soft May gales,
Pitter-patter, feathery footsteps, crush square-toed umbras in shiny snow: our goodnight.
In corn's golden sceptres: her bones, firm and hollow, twined in russet earth - welcome her in.
Blanket in the quiet night, mother's almanacs, King James' finger by heart; fetch tot's needle,
Stitch butter yellow daffodils, sapphire indigo bluebells - no holes in Sunday's splendour.
Fair-haired periwinkle dawns: winding, one foot, two foot, pasture rows, pluck stubborn rock,
Unblemish'd farmland: pick cherry-pink tulips, poach pillows of sunny-side, fry peameal up.
Peaks of custard silk and fine plums. Jar strawberries as calligraphy. Scrub diamonds of baby soft skin.
Horse-taming Laertes' love notes are father's mailbox's pearls: that gilded wheat lion paw
Ring, down a toddler creek of ribbon yards. Midsummer spring of maple stage, darling
Wendy and reddish-brown heather honey-pawed foxes. Toadstools' pots, pans, pillowy aster
Ey'lids. sap-sticky fists; gasping lung, wine like spoiled plums, and muddy, sallow beer pennies run.
Satiny ruby, sapphire, and topaz oil paint brush strokes of the sleepy-eyed sun. Cornstalk gales rustl'.
Fireflies stand as a choir of stars, ivy arms' spindles, beckon 'pon lovely-ankled Eurus,
Rows of evergreens arabesque and pirouette - tip-toes never to touch ambrosia cobblestones.
Pearly eggs, chipped garnet berries, radishes, count the years in wheelbarrow's rust rivulets.
Roping back emerald curtains, squishing eyelashes and nose taut 'gainst the window -
Flakes of snow piled up 'to fleecy pillows, smoth'ring o'er her miles of fallen emerald fae.
His thumb stroked each sapphire face, 'fore kneading pearls on his palm -
Pooled in the cellar of his ma's treasure chest, in dirty puddles they blinked, then were gone.
Asphalt was slick in stoney-eyed autumn's rain, ice pelts were thorns in wheel's spoke,
Above mangled ankle sighed a thin veil of smog, faint and pale of yellowish corn oil,
Fatty butter sopped, shiny white vinegar singed peach pit notches, in belly's blush tissue,
Foreign try of leafy greens, pillow yams paprika perfumed, wince whispers he can't go home.
Frosted glass shards wept on ceramic tile, milk plashes stamp the wall dripping chalky ink,
Claps of his father's almighty thunder clung to rims of crackling flakes of paper's damask -
Leafs of watercolours on card coming together a powdered-mint rose-sashed prom dress,
Padded feet, one foot, two foot, hid hand-me-down bike behind tremblin' door just uncracked.
Mahogany books make pine forest; string ravine melody, Mother's hand-cupped, topaz
Stars, stone snug in Ma's treasure chest heart, satiny smooth of Pa's conch and glinting eyeglass.
A basinet of straw as softgrass, cocoon of cashmere, bosom of fresh cream, brown sugar -
Gooey coconut cakes, honeybuns, cream tarts: Ma's crowned sculptures mounted on columns.
Shined down table of English walnut and runner in fine-spun hemp, stitched pinky yarrow.
Pa's yarn-smooth hands, nail and hammer of carpenter, chisel fine hummingbird, rose, vine.
Thumbs peeled mandarines' scratchy coats, slippery and sticky in sugar, on the countertop,
Ripe gold sun dancing 'pon curling gypsum chandelier arms, blink, sleep in gasping bulbs.
Devil-horned asphalt, obsidian tar, to golden berry terracotta, whole milk and marble lion talons
In sparrow. Porcelain hands lace, ribbon yards christen in primrose, honeysuckle, marigold.
Ma's fluttery doily lashes curtain eyes of high markets' aquamarine - the bounty of the sea,
Hair a fountain of golden flax, lips a pink orchid petals, a storybook fairy smile of porcelain tears.
Pomegranate Cadillac is laureled king: bronze-bridle chariot stallions, toss of handkerchiefs;
Soot-coat bikes soar backstreet lightnin' bolts, sickly wheat cement blocks looking to heaven -
Nutmeg-coat hare's thumb picks dandelion tufts. Honey-carob eyes pray for spring chicks.
Sea-green dawn - broke the hour Pa would greet daylight - beat his neck, mining cashbox,
Unsheathe porphyry glade's mighty sword: pearly polo button-ups, velvety gel, jet-black,
Win Ma's spoons braided of Peruvian silver, Persian curtains, embroider of birds of paradise,
Pa's pocketwatch; springtime's rosiest cheek, pinkish peach, cupped by naughty-man's-play-
Things. Their Notre Dame spires, Victoria's myrtle-garlanded elder columns.
Crimson silk biceps and thighs, of deer musk and bronze oregano. Blue-ribboned calf's
Leather loafers. Carmine apple, blackened-olive fig sashes for a hunting rifle carved in ivory.
Antlers, panthers, cottontails 'pon the mantle.
Weave a tiara of ruby-red sugar maple leaves, porcelain seashells, purest stones to his eye.
Softgrass brass trumpets, apricot orchid rustling strings, tin pan of mangroves' caress,
Pearly balloons, date-curtained Eden coconut cream and sugar cubes' mango weave kingly
Gateway of almond trees: canaries of fluffed feather, floury obsidian olive, violets, daffodils, tulips. Pollen spell
Of poppy seeds or fennel root. Softly-braided cornflower sky, aquamarine
Caribbean sea, his saffron east stars glimmer 'pon the rosemary, thyme, hyssop capped loam.
Ma's cypress basket, waking yellow bells and turquoise knife waves of Amazon mouth, break dawn.
Her ruffles of powdered-rose coral twirl, petals in the gales. Flame scorched alabaster hands
Hole petioles, laminas, veins. Lily-of-the-valley arms cup his basalt shoulders. Fireflies roar
From sweetly singing cattails, climbing waterlilies. The inlet God painted, between gold
Granite crags, smooth amber. Watercolours by number, mountain crocuses to marsh irises.
Buttery ivory fists, gorged violet of ripe red plums, crush, pierce his starched collar, a net:
Spit of nice brandy - boney olive, corn-meal elbows, brook-smoothed stones, crack ribs.
Stoney-eyed pavement is woolen lap, warm milk, collarbone warm of windowpanes' oil stamps
Wincing arms, rum-violet bruised, bastard iron - wild sage and blackberry-sewn gown (coin season).
Trembly reed, his nutmeg palm - hare's paw - hides conch shell's pieces from stiffening lips;
Limestone oven-cradled vanilla bean fingertips tap his shoulder - build fireplace embers of his belly.
Sugary steam of yams dashed in nutmeg, anise, porcelain pot of sapphire bluebells,
Fresh cream tourmaline daffodils. Amber corn flour kneads in French vanilla fingers, hair from
Lily-white. Promising kernels of an oak-log hearth, crinkles of tabby cat's whiskers, tickle
Of a maple comb, squash honey mahogany shellac. Stir pearly cow's milk, satin ribbons,
Cool and bright of a freshwater spring, buttery as cod filets Mama's lacy fingers' garlanded in
Saffron's gold bands, Papa's Sunday stipend; her chapel barn crowns fresh robin egg skies' end.
Lovely-ankled sidewalks of ivory Elysium, marble angels' wings cradle palaces' windows,
Alyssum-stem mannequins, goddesses of the pines, glitter in gowns, jewels of confectioner
Glazed gala apple, Anjou pear, farmers' blueberry pies. Porcelain goldfinches pierce
Yellow straw paniers, citrine towers crumbling to the sea, chests of violet-sore peaches,
Wilting garnet-crusted cabbages, black-eyed peas, perspiring Southern belles, georgette curtains,
Bell-sleeves, calf-gathering ruffle hems, stitched lipstick red roses, pomegranate seeds.
Fire-blackened guajillo fingers of grey-plumed killdeers' caress of silks taut on too-ripe fruits.
Sugar-sweet carnauba plum-orchids and raspberry-hibiscuses raise proud heads to the sun,
Swallowtail of mustard green wings, carved on her Papa's chisel, beats trusting, breathing
Softly, coiling along Roman-columned brass rails. Gilded violetears and daggerbills, wings nailed
To the slab. Marbles blue of freshwater pearls, telescopes of copper flecked diamonds, marsh
In a lily's soil. Of freshly picked cranberries and buttercream taffeta's butter yellow daisies, roses,
Florentine oils bluebells. Frosted rose petit-four, a bowed gift, to ruby raw rib-eye. Pacific
Empress' jade embroidered H.W. napkin. Red-velvet heart-buttoned lips. Asking why Priam's
Folded hands, bowed head, to sing her nightingale lullabies.
Flaxy lace glove begs whizzing golden apple, chalky ochre soils Caribbean blue satin pump.
Saran-ribboned store-bought apple pie basket of the corn yellow sun-cradled ear whittled to
Soil, seeded in heirloom twinkling tennis ball green grass, marble parthenons - chiffon-gilded
Ash townhomes. Esther wraps silky treacle palms 'round umber-violet figs and jammy navel oranges,
Plump diamonds, bulbs of hearth, in canopy of sugar maples, white firs, English roses, buttery
Daffodils. Painted bronze lettering, yards of sequoia tree's tops, Williams & Sons. Priam's
Hazel-ringed eyes on the hill. Saffron wheat curls, freckles dotting noses and coral pink ears.
Glinting helmet brothers! Swanny pillbox crowns coo, blood-starved crows. Son's wisps
Of August strawberry and sweeter spring sapphires. Her maid-of-honor's violet poppy,
"Crisp an' lacy peaches are sugar to the mouth, white flour and farmer's corn cooks a meal."
Her young saffron crocus spoke much the same. Achilles' russet-yam eyes, Venetian spring
Olive oil skin. Prince's raven-black mane, and rivers of muscle clefts. On great-hearted clay roads,
Gleaming pigskins, arrows flecked in Apollo's paternity, bay-laureled Nike’s grace. Copper penny
Eggs of an alabaster goose are Ariadne’s ruby thread to that fountain of gold coins. Castor to
Helen's zirconia crowns, sea scallop diamonds, yards of home-grown raspberry,
Porphyry tomato, pruned sage tulle. Scrubbed of blood, skin. Ribs of bishop fingerprints' mark,
Heels of amaryllis bruises promise aged pipes bellies ice-box creamy cod and days-old collard.
Esther, pearl of dove eggs. She ought to rock hungry babes upon thread-bare linen knee,
Red-grape carnelian and hyssop green hoods, alabaster rose headscarves. Mama's silken
Orange marmalade skin sew her in Priam's nymphs of the aspen trunks, fine-singing
Black sea, and Briseis' softly-braided wine-colored veil. Lamb fleece gloves and Indian
Sapphires, coral teardrops of an English rose, and Stuart, and Schuyler diadems' pearls.
***
Yield velvety cursive ink, asphodel parchment petals, for coal gingham cherry pop cushions.
Flint-earthed coffee in Demeter’s daughter's hands is stone-fruit and almond-rich sunflower oil;
Sallow hay tequila sears tater flour cowboys' breath, frothing canines, scorpion pincers wag,
His Easter noon milky skin and call. Wristwatch engraved in high H.W. A sailor, her tow.
Pomegranate libation, nectar of spoilt cherries, ripening in the pumpkin-gold noon days ago.
Lock Eden’s marble gates - promise of acres, yarrow-doilied emerald land hid from beads of sweat.
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Lofty jade fir, oak, walnut trees cradle the sky, eternal woolly clouds, as a basinet, violets,
Hyacinths, asphodels, and lilies nuzzle wet noses to brick, bushels of asters, bluebells,
Nerines, and wisteria are doves' tails as an orchestra's strings, mountain thyme, sage, rosehip,
Her Baptist choir. On the plains of golden sweet corn sowing the emerald, Papa's dinner table
Carved in Homer's bronze heroes of her oils, bending, twisting wrinkly fingers 'nto gothic twigs.
For apple cheeks and marigold eyelashes. Sapphires of the salted earth, bands of hazel, olive.
Tiger's eyes hiding behind hornrim eyeglasses, tufts of sienna carnation handkerchiefs
Tucked in like shrinking petunias, nod blessing to the honey-yellow apple orchard christened
In burlap cheesecloth ribbons hung like china wind-chimes. Swaying wisteria plays the lute
For the first dance, uttering God's grace. Smiling chorus of paprika letters, chopping curling,
Flowering vines.
Seafoam-chrome motorcar leapt from her ochre earth roads, rising curls, dust plumes.
Oven-mitt goldenrod honey hands mount buttermilk tallow candles upon Neptune’s
Province's marble sticks. Nana's linen chest graces noon marigold, Flora's dew for the first:
Burgundy maze clay pots to a china cabinet of Latium steel, yucca ash oils' hand-painted
Cups, ivory tissue napkins etched as the finest lace in monarchs landing on poppy stalks,
Fleecy, thick-trunked apple, pear, apricot trees, a right seat to those finely-woven orange and fig?
Maraschino cherry plaid apron ties in a schoolgirl's bow. Yards of yarn soft lace wrap
Oleander petals, stems of the Caribbean sea.
Creamy downed blanket envelops as fig molasses, ox-eyed paintbrush draws snow-white
Daisies. Olive sapling irises see beyond: flocks of blushingly ripe ewes and heifers, and pinkie-
Imprinting fruits. For her babe, she fetches golden-blonde wings of chicken, potato, corn.