survive? To fast is not to starve. Dirt cracking. Always fissures, hungers,  
A Portrait of Daniel:
I think of a river
running through you.
It flows from your
head to your upper
thighs and groin. The
river surrounds your
head but you are not
drowning. Inside you
there are rocks, and
the water crashes
against them. Your
arms and legs are
lights that the ground
crew uses to guide the
plane in. They are
always backing up.
Sometimes the arms
and legs are fireflies.
Sometimes they are
pure fire, a cleansing
fire along the river
bank. And some-
times they rage and if
there is a little oil on
the water, they
dance across and
consume it.

He has stolen some
of my cynicism, the
part based on despair.




The coral vine has

 
heart-shaped leaves
and heart-shaped
flowers-two hearts
with a third squeezed
inside. Only half the
inner heart shows. If
you peel away the
petals, a light char-
treuse bud appears.


Soap, a wash basin,

prayer-bubbles. As I
stood on my head for
you, blood rushed to
my face. I thought
clearer. My legs, seen
through the harem
fasting, famine. I like to eat. Digging
for tubers, pinching off smilax shoots.
How much food is needed for survi-
 
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Christy Sheffield Sanford, Copyright © 1996, page design 1998.