Leadville

Also published on Flowers of Sulfur


Leadville

            —circa 1874

Her hurdy-gurdy sound detaches in tangents across the plain.

little missy violet walks from the dance hall foyer.

Drone-strung, her torso waits for its player.

A crib is a disheveled doldrum of human need.                           

little missy violet walks from the dance-hall foyer.

Somewhere beneath her breastbone a series of levers turn.

A crib is a disheveled doldrum. Of human need:

the clanking-pocket gent, fierce gears in woolen trousers.

Somewhere beneath her breastbone a series of levers turn.

Beyond cracked walls, bursts of pewter snow.

The clanking-pocket gent, fierce gears in woolen trousers--

after the dig, the sift, drip of the silvered tongue, there is this:

beyond the cracked walls, bursts of pewter snow,

and her torso, a pliable instrument and white. 

After the dig, the sift, the drip of the silvered tongue, there is this:

A rosined heart pumps coniferous blood.

And her torso, a pliable instrument and white

as powdered wind. Here within branchless town

a rosined heart pumps coniferous blood--

Its hurdy-gurdy sound detaches in tangents across the plain.