Two poems

TWO POEMS

Stuart Inman

The Savage Equation

(For Marie-Dominique Massoni)

I. This darkness allows nothing
But the clamour of eyes

II. Stifled gold
Like a frozen shout

III. There is a purple sky of flesh
As exposed
As the delicate filigree
Of a mirror lost in Hell



Legerdemain

The joker in the pack of my heart
Was ruffled by a wind blowing from your eyes
And fell face up on the table

The lights were turned low and the songs of dead mermaids were hushed
So that all could see the silver traceries
Of tiny birds
Hunting the mice
Who chew at the cards
Until my heart is turned into agonized lace