hummingbird, make your tender nest
in the tuck of my collarbone
i feel your small hot bodies
shimmering movement, tap beaks
into the welcome melt of my skin.
i lean into curving shadows,
tree branches strap round-
one belt, one at at time, between my legs.
waking springtime in the flux of me,
throughout the night i hear the foxing
calling their whimpering pleasures
they know about this body!
their foxlings cowl in grunt births
wide wet red mouths, wide wet red tails
spreading erect and upright toward
this summering sun
lain outside the den in murmured daze,
wet stone noses a blunt black burning
with the toss wind calling-
come out! come out!
i curl into dandelion grass,
the tangle long of thorny hair,
there are roses blanching on the
old wooden gate
and wildflowers blooming in
sharp colored eruptions across my breasts;
a pink tulip mouths my nipple.
each easy blossoming curls between my toes
and fingers as if i will never walk;
crush them blood colored into the dirt.
bees swing their heavy stingers
my eyes closed against their threat
i am finding how to live,
what do i care for your small deaths?
stuffed
my mouth with tangy soil,
open lips full dirt to the sky-
my body's voice rises with the
earth's roiling cry:
seed me
-
maggie may ethridge
