Four Saints In Love

deviant art by esempio costiga


Four Saints in Love Time:
Matt, Mark, Luke and John


a.

My name is Cassandra.
Call me Cassie for short.
My stories come true.
Learn from my mistakes.
Boys will be boys
even when they're men.
Blessed be the sister
who lives her own life
taking what she fancies
without getting hurt.

I've nursed the male ego
all my life.
Daddy was the first.
He said he loved me as he hit me.
I'd make up stories
when he came home drunk,
praying he would keep his hands
to himself.


b.

Matt:

Broad shouldered, thin waisted,
all smiles, hairy chested,
he kept a pet snake.
The man had a knack for knowing
what I wanted to hear.
Unable to tell the truth
he left me not telling me why.
Left me without a goodbye.
He even had the nerve to leave
the snake. I couldn't bear
the disgrace.
Deep down, I was sure the problem
was somewhere in me.

c.

Mark:

Mark came next. He had beautiful hands.
Into building things,
he loved to tear me down.
I didn't mind. I felt I deserved it
at the time.
When he started beating me
I left him before he
could leave me.

d.

Luke:

Luke was all song.
He was different from the rest.
He had the face of an angel,
the voice of the moon.
I sat at his feet while he played guitar.
He loved his instrument more then me.
I worked, giving him
all the money I made.
When they took him to jail
I cried. Where he's at now,
everyone loves him
to death.

e.

John:

John was the last.
He was everything I dreamed.
His deceit was the worst.
When I got pregnant,
he didn't know what to say
but that he found religion,
had to see his kids in Idaho,
his parents in Portland.
How can God be on a woman's side
when She permits such wickedness
in the hearts of men?



Scott Malby 2003

Posted over on Stick Your Neck Out Poetry