70spoems/deathwish*

DEATH WISH IN ANGER AT MY LOVER

There’s a knife up my back
and I can’t move,
the pain never stops.
You want to love me
but won’t reach out
to touch the dagger,
afraid to soil your hands.
Your pretty passion
parades in front of my coffin,
laid out in paisley pattern
at my funeral feast.
Angry that I should leave you,
you rip open my shroud,
bury your hand in the wound
to see if it’s real,
now when it’s safe
and the blood has dried.

7/20/76