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