Mark Russell

 

HER BLOUSE IS MADE OF LINGONBERRIES

 
See there     out of the haar
in the Bay of Furies
a plausible argument    
the sirens     bereft     wailing
 
founded in outbreaks of engagements,
their dominance the sum of their flaws,
their ancient woodlands and good causes,
their victories Cannae-smart
 
and they’re the finest of inmates      
     staring at us    in the desert
it’s crucial to the metre     of pleasure
of misfortune     to weigh the balance of spoils
 
to seize our collars     tune to B-flat
     what is not     what is sudden
is to figure out the chair     the duty
     the awards in the doghouse
 
She regrets it
the exposure     the merit     this suspension   
the temperature of its depravity
 
one is the action of cell damage
if nothing else     spherical     with sunglasses
 
choosing suitable treatment is effortless
in the swarthy steward’s hotel room
it shines like warehouse storage
and if necessary
at the ballet’s contrived finale
 
It is not a pestilence     this composition
it is comprised     in addition to cramps
to affections and devotions
the lilies of the catalogue     and the glass
These are its passions     and this     nakedness

Copyright © Mark Russell 2016

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Mark Russell has two chapbooks with Red Ceilings Press: ا (the book of seals), and Saturday Morning Pictures. He has also published Pursued by Well-being (tall-lighthouse). ℵ book of (moose) is due out later this year with Kattywompus Press, as is Spearmint & Rescue with Pindrop Press. Poems have appeared in Tears in the Fence, Otoliths, Shadowtrain and elsewhere. Some of his work appeared in Molly Bloom 4. markrussellat.wordpress.com