Anna Lena Phillips
Endearment
Mob a tomb.
Board a tram.
Drama! Brat,
be a moat.
Be beat.
Data—toad,
bream, bat—
abate. Bard
ear, atom
beard, be
bared. Be
a dear abode,
dreamboat.
Endearment
Set, stare.
Sweater weather.
Treat the wart—
tar thewes,
tart stew.
He a hare,
she aster.
Saw, hew,
sweat, thaw.
Water? Tea?
The sea her tether,
her star. Steer.
We swat the ether.
What are we,
sweetheart?
Dry Season on the Deccan Plateau
On a day so hot that we were all indoors
The little dog, dying, could not die
The neem leaves shaking in a scant breeze
He shivered sideways and he rolled his eyes
The little dog, dying, could not die
He ground grey dust into his patchy coat
He shivered sideways and he rolled his eyes
Everything went pale in silent heat
He ground grey dust into his patchy coat
At last she went for the shovel, and I for a sack
Everything went pale in silent heat
She brought the shovel down against his back
She went out for the shovel, and I for a sack
Pink mimosa flowers fell to the dirt
She brought the shovel down against his back
The sweat dried before it could soak my shirt
Pink mimosa flowers fell to the dirt
We dug a hole and covered him over with stones
The sweat dried before it could soak my shirt
Back in the shade, I rinsed dust from my hands
We dug a hole and covered him over with stones
The neem leaves shaking in a scant breeze
Back in the shade, I rinsed dust from my hands
On a day so hot that we were all indoors
Holographic Prayer Cards
from the gift shop at the Madonna Queen National Shrine, Orient Heights, Mass.
1.
Mary in blue looks gently down
but a shift of card betrays
her red heart flashing, circled in thorns.
If she sees it, she won’t say.
2.
Jesus embraces a weeping man.
His lovely head must turn
back and forth, Now, now, my son,
in comical concern.
3.
Two ragged kids with serious eyes
stand for a photograph.
A subtle flash—a saint appears
but cannot make them laugh.
4.
The Virgin, thirty feet tall, presides
over Orient Heights—
but look again, and she subsides.
What's left is winter light.
5.
Mary and Jesus, one then one,
as if the difference
between the mother and the son
were thin as card, or chance.
