Poem: Pain

This poem was originally published in Drunken Boat, edited by the genius Ravi Shankar, sometime in 2008 or 2009.

It is part of a chapbook that I have made available for free at Issu. The title of this chapbook is "Gordian Butterflies." Every poem in it has been published somewhere or other. Lissa Kiernan, of Poetry Coop fame, reviewed this chap very favorably. Here is her review:

Lissa Kiernan's Review of GB


Here is the chapbook itself:


GORDIAN BUTTERFLIES



May you transform into a bon vivant by day, and a sybarite by night.


Owl


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Pain

are you tadpole or anaconda?
bugaboo or truth?

is your tongue pert
like a silver prick,
chic with cruelty?

or are you grubby,
slothful and broke--

glass crown licking
a gutter?

i run from your chase
till vigor laminates
my muscles

but when you catch my heart
i loathe

your horns, which gouge
peace, poise and trust--

like a minotaur
hid yet invincible,

trampling hope, and piety too--
as if to say to god

am i the monster
you intended?




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