|
|
|
Apostrophe
Poetry by Jennifer Martelli
|
Excerpts
Bastard of a Ghazal
By the airport, the 35’ Madonna stands on a globe at Orient
Heights.
Her baby Madonnas bless every other lawn in Revere.
My father’s father stole nails to build St. Anthony’s.
I have my grandmother’s silver rosary she got from her mother
when they came over to Revere.
Sometimes, looking at someone for too long meant a fight in
Revere.
Sometimes, not looking at someone for too long meant they were
dead.
My father once ran the whole city of Revere.
When you want or have too much, they say mal occhio shoots out
like a bird.
My mother had to bathe this man.
My father covered his balls with a washcloth in their bathroom in
Revere.
There are things that just didn’t exist or stopped existing in
Revere.
They call me Jenny, after my grandmother from Revere.
The Yurei
In last night’s movie, a Japanese ghost
pulled herself from a pool of black oil
which had transformed first into her swirling hair.
When you asked me if I still loved you
your question hung in the black cyberspace near a star.
I am in awe of the forces that brought me to you.
The TV is mute after midnight so the sound
won’t wake my husband. There is kindness in my life.
I am so blessed: my eyes are still good, my hair still black.
On Any Given Day, Could Have Been in the Fall
Who looked at me that day?
Who looked at me and wanted what they saw?
Who looked at my hands?
My right dug out loose change for a homeless man,
my left balanced an espresso-to-go for my husband
who looked for me sideways, his eye an arrow-head
aimed at my heart. That time of year, a shofar
sounds and God’s good gaze looks down.
A crow circled and zeroed in on trash.
Who wants anything that loves us for long?
Before I knew it, all their gazing had grown old.
Before I knew it, I needed something more to look me up and
down.
Pushing through that street music toward my husband, I could be
on MTV, I could be a model on the catwalk, I could be marked
by a serial killer in the Pit for his next meal.
I must not have been paying attention.
Can you see how I was such easy prey?
|
|
|
|
|
|
