Tangled

My hair is simple.
She loves tangles,
Loves entwining with me.

The canoes on the river
Are justified by the running train
Of water beneath them.

What combination of lips and skin
Can we design?
Her hands flare me with sweet sickness.
Her teeth tattoo me
With impatience.

On the river banks
The woods grow up.

Seek my mind,
Steep it in honey.
Warm my thighs.

In the river,
The dead swim among the rocks.
Her tongue on my breasts
Flicks me on like a light.
Her hand on my belly captures my breath.

Among the reeds,
A rusting locket with one picture.

First Mother

My eyes are plastic
Blind with dew.
Oh Earth!
I am too unnatural for you.
Even my knees are suspect,
My elbows subject to your surveillance.
In a garden ages ago,
A woman who was my oldest mother
Was made of skin,
With hands of fruit.
After her,
The door slammed shut.
Angel with sword of light barring
The encapsulated botanical zoo.
Kudzu slid out the door at her ankles,
Always ready to charge and choke.
In her aggressive moniker
Teeth,
Ritualistic fire,
Serotonin.
And through the chemical canal
That was newborn woman,
Plastic people,
Synergistic city sewing.