Arachne: Recent Memory

I amuse myself with bits
             of cellophane, fluff caught
in the weave with the clipart–guitar
             strung on the shell of an armadillo,
graphics from Tuesday’s forecast.
             I’ve run out of images, used up the erotic
exploits of the gods. Anatomy limits
             the possibilities for penetration and thread
is not dear.
             A slow week: a piece on pangs
of drowning in black and white, the latest
             alien abduction narrative–
though cool space speculums don’t come
             across on cloth–a sketch of men astride
inspired by a horse race in Dubai,
             and footstool embroidery for William
Satan, a birthday whim
             at the suggestion of mutual friends.
It’s easy to succumb to stasis,
             savage inaction, shuttle dropped to the floor,
my favorite cagey dodge about
             a hole in aboutness when it’s all about
the loom, defunct.

             Toy a bit with Billy–I must admit
I like his type, shaving cream daddy
             who’ll pick me up, put
my lips to his taut cheekbone. I miss
             the odd balance of a body
on another body stretched and resting,
             like sleeping on a slight incline
you didn’t sense when you pitched the tent.
             Bipeds have it good.
All the talk about erotics
             of the visual, but gaze all you like,
this patchwork arrogance remains
             inscrutable–yesterday’s scene of legs
over shoulders, diaper-change style.
             The last time the tapestry of ravish
actually got seen
             was when the women saw the Resurrection,
the tanned ankles of Jesus,
             wept on and ringed in their grips,
Jesus on the road to the Emmys, decked out
             and strolling between sex and the thought of sex.

There’s still the fans,
             the fantasy of a fair share of art in punishment.
Mail from one Wanda who suggests
             the buffeted souls in lust
are served up buffet-style with hunks of parmigiana.
             Snapshot
of the track star from Mineola Prep who arrives
             at last at the Arctic Circle,
strips, and pumps the air with pride.
             A woman in Kissimmee says she killed
a giant spider behind her toilet bowl
             only to watch in horror while its body released
a thousand offspring,
             bitties that poured to the corners while the mama
shriveled small.
             I weave them in for lack
of better options, tangents, fields of play
             to take my mind off the rasp
that sounds, soulless and dry,
             when I strum my legs together like a lyre.