DRAGON'S TEETH
I drift among the scattered dunes
/their fleshy knolls sawed
by kick-bursts of silver sand/
kelp smears the beach below
a balm to mask its lesions
/sopped branches__rotted fish.
public rubbish/
A driftwood effigy marooned from
the sea rinse___impales my solitude.
/hoplite sown of dragon's teeth
trash enfleshed__rag muscles
twine ligaments__wire nerves/
Ghost and god implore my daunted soul
to beknight him with identity___
The specter taunts my galloping heart.
/lance to the sea__garbage pail shield
wind-animated__wavering/
His wood legs clatter in their sockets
pick-up sticks topple down
prophets yet scatter teeth anew
into the fertile marl of fright___.
/junk sprung full-blown from
fermented Zeus/
July 1989