"Storyville Portrait" - EJ Belocq (ca. 1912-)
Lips
Moon's thin slice,
cypress
shadows—
coquina shells
adorned in hues
A harp's weep
in the night’s
breath.
Oh
Molly,
her stone eyes
watch the rain
Stories tangled
with vine
and earth.
Old ghosts
long shadows—
beneath
peeling paint: tangled sins.
Somebody’s body
Bone and sinew
Binding
Wings flutter in the
grit—
too delicate for the flight.
A plea from
the killer—
painted eyes
brimming with want
pleading to be
chased—
The pulse,
of fractured time
Not his seed
Hemophilia,
a blood that won’t
stop,
a rhythm offbeat,
men
without wombs
grasping
for what they can’t
create.
cards scattered, spades
peaches and plums
soft
in the last light,
roll the dice,
and accept
the final
deal.
Amanda Bylone is a poet and visual artist. She has contributed to Moral Crema and the Belladonna Collaborative.
High Horse 