Marge Simon
The Native Finds Her in the Wreckage
The native finds her
In the wreckage.
She is weak at first,
then she is the shark,
ever in motion to stay alive.
Better to live on her feet
than on her knees.
The smells she’s lost,
Dill & oleander,
river mist,
another world ago-
things the native
wouldn’t grasp.
When she is well,
he gives her brush and palette.
she paints him sideways
so his wings look like a helmet.
Art talks a good game
but he breaks her fingers anyway,
stretches the bones to imitate his own,
binds her hands until they heal.
When this is done,
when she is beautiful,
he gifts her with his oily sex.
For her, the shadows overflow
and it doesn’t get light
until sunset.
The native mumbles
What is about her
on his mind,
to her, just to her —
never sure if she hears
and understands
or if so, cares.
Page(s) 20
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