your brain curls like shell

Ave

 O lost moon sisters 

 crescent in hair, sea underfoot do you wander

  in blue veil, in green leaf, in tattered shawl do you wander 

with goldleaf skin, with flaming hair do you wander 

on Avenue A, on Bleecker Street do you wander 

on Rampart Street, on Fillmore Street do you wander 

with flower wreath, with jeweled breath do you wander 

 footprints

 shining mother of pearl 

behind you 

moonstone eyes 

in which the crescent moon 

with gloves, with hat, in rags, in fur, in beads

 under the waning moon, hair streaming in black rain 

wailing with stray dogs, hissing in doorways 

shadows you are, that fall on the crossroads, 

highways 

 jaywalking do you wander 

spitting do you wander 

mumbling and crying do you wander aged and talking to yourselves 

with roving eyes do you wander 

hot for quick love do you sander 

weeping your dead 

 naked you walk 

swathed in long robes you walk 

swaddled in death shroud you walk 

backwards you walk 

 hungry 

hungry 

hungry

 

 shrieking I hear you 

singing I hear you 

cursing I hear you 

praying I hear you

 

 you lie with the unicorn you lie with the cobra 

you lie in the dry grass 

you lie with the yeti you flick long cocks of satyrs with your tongue

 

 you are armed 

you drive chariots 

you tower above me 

you are small you cower on hillsides 

out of the winds 

 

pregnant you wander 

barefoot you wander 

battered by drunk men you wander 

 you kill on steel tables  

you birth in black beds 

fetus you tore out stiffens in snow 

it rises like new moon 

you moan in your sleep 

 digging for yams you wander 

looking for dope you wander 

playing with birds you wander 

chipping at stone you wander 

 I walk the long night seeking you 

I climb the sea crest seeking you 

I lie on the prairie, batter at stone gates 

calling your names 

 you are coral 

you are lapis and turquoise 

your brain curls like shell 

you dance on hills 

 hard-substance woman you whirl 

you dance on subways 

you sprawl in tenements 

children lick at your tits 

 you are the hills, the shape and color of mesa 

you are the tent, the lodge of skins, the hogan 

the buffalo robes, the quilt, the knitted afghan 

you are the cauldron and the evening star 

you rise over the sea, you ride the dark 

 I move within you, light the evening fire 

I dip my hand in you and eat your flesh 

you are my mirror image and my sister 

you disappear like smoke on misty hills 

you lead me thru dream forest on horseback 

large gypsy mother, I lean my head on your back 

 I am you 

and I must become you  

I have been you and I must become you 

I am always you  

I must become you 

 ay-a 

ay-a ah 

ay-a 

ay-a ah ah 

maya ma maya ma 

om star mother ma om 

maya ma ah