after Ovid

hear me, o heaven // my song my song 

something has changed // has changed 

me there is no me // to speak of 

now, just a feeling // wasn’t I careful?

didn’t the years reveal // their true

cruel pattern? // aren’t I lonely

again? I am // preparing prodigious

orris root between // my thighs that smell 

of devotion // and my body unable 

to sing splendor // it is spring 

somewhere // tulips fold

from their own heavy// he is 

telling me to unfold // a delicacy

all night I am // swallowing

the delicate I am // merciless

maybe I am // waiting for god

or a piece of // her maybe 

then the mouth will shape itself into // bloom