Sugar

Street Posts, Seattle, WA.  Image © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

 

 

when your spindles turned

to char-

coal,

you wiped your eye-

lashes

and turned your hair crimson, cocoa,

blonde, black

melting in the freeze;

you, a candy in the dish,

purple and licked,

true confections on the tip

of your tongue

giving kisses

cold-

er than

they’ve draw you

in the lines

of your cheekbones

and jaw-

dropping curves

the ones

 no one keeps

past

yesterday

but still

you try to be, to do

everything they want

turning bucks

and, when honest, at your heart,

feel something

you’ve heard

is akin to love

Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

 

Sandmorphs of the Amethyst Moon

The watchful eye of the bleeding heart moon

turned amethyst,

her vellum glowed in its gaze—

a canvas for creatures of prey.

Black sand morphed white on her toes,

confectioners’ sugar

to said creatures

making them voraciously bay.

Storm clouds rained dirt

for moments turned years

while she learned to make bloodcastles

with hellbowls of tears.

Sorry for what they’d done,

treacherous birds of root

flew from her tormented refrain

to nest and to watch from beaches of soot.

A pièce de résistance complete

in its unfinishing,

thus, she set off to hunt prey of her own.

She tortured a few, but could kill only time,

true more to herself than a rule.

She’d only been waiting on setting cement,

and Prince Charming’s repent

for having left her alone in the light of such an encouraging moon.

Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

Linking up to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads for Open Link Monday and OpenLinkNight at dVerse Poets Pub.