Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Nine Card Spread



Nine Card Spread


There's a deck of cards face down on the table.

Will the night's apocalyptic starfish still swim
in the stream circling the lady's waist?
Will her garden always yield pearls of jellied moon
ripped from the side of florescent sharks?
Will her walls anchored in the sea floor uphold trellises
laced with continuous light?

There's a deck of cards face down on the table.

Will the lady find herself hanging upside down in a window
on the other side of the sun?
Will the fool in her fall on the swords protruding
from the drapes of the covetous city's drawing room?
Will the pride of lions in her shoulders bear the weight
of her own dark angel wounded in the rain?

It's in the cards. It's not in the cards.
The heart of a mandolin hums in the hand.
The jacks are holding oracle bones
in the pockets of their suits. It's in the cards.
It's not in the cards. Past and sudden
revelations bring the house tumbling down
around the Queen of Clubs so pressed for time.
It's in the cards. It's not in the cards.
The present portends stasis and flush sails
picking up wind in the eyes of diamonds
looking out on the joker's wild eternity.

There's a deck of cards face down on the table.

Will the bridge spanning the abyss be there going and coming
from the lady's armchair to the rim of the crowd?
Will she divine a way with more than string or ribbon
to harness the dragon appearing in her field?
Will she learn to dance with her head brushing the clouds
and her feet patterning figure eights in clover?

There's a deck of cards face down on the table.



Janet Hamill

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