The
Vivisection
Mambo

When she takes the sword, kisses the blade just so
And places it gently in my gut and slides it up:
I think on the lace she wears to the dance,
   And before her, breasts like great engines
   Pushing love around the ball, into all of us.

She does bite the blade, doesn't she? By my
White god I miss her, and her thighs lurking there
At the edge of my taste, the knowledge that she
In her ripe estates of lavender could so easily
Abandon those of us who love her god knows
Forever, a great streaming out forever.
    She pushes love around the floor, ruffling the panes.
    What in god's sweet name can she possibly mean?

The sight of those whale bones rising straight up
Out of the chenille, the blasted suns rising up,
Dromedaries lurching out of the morning desert:
    Somehow this has a meaning for me.

She and I were once together in this very pyramid.
I was willing to die for the two-eyed moonstone.
The taste of her webbing, tying me to her;
There was some thing important going on (I swear)
Between her and me and the gods,
    Arms wrapped about galaxy arms
    Great legs about god's great legs.

You and I lie in the wallow of such memories:
Sweet clover, acrid perfume, strokes long gone,
Drooping cat's eyes, fallen stars, and her dying.
Thoughts are white buzzards that come to peck at me
At times like this, pester me as if I were perfect.
    Too much love laid up
    Too long ago, my goddess gone now
       god damn it gone.

--- P.J. Weise