not that Madonna THE Madonna,
the one with the white lacy bra
ten too many fake-jewel bling-blings
o honey baby lord and ladies help me
when I leave home my hand sani
and every bathroom from here
to Chehalis is closed oh woe gah
hear me as I grieve for the one who
sloughed their smoke blue scarf who’s
carrying who’s packing who’s got it
who’s it what’s it and so’s your Aunt Lizzie
and the heck I know big question yoga
or paddle big important question
chicken enchilada or a la king am I
hoarding or going for broken? Breaking
out of my rage rut or pointing my covid toe
at your rashy shoulder life is a mystery
a felon on the far shore who knows
if they’ve got it white white good
has never been called a whore like her
like the angels that rattle like the stutter
of a kingbird when a queen is what gets you
through the birth canal o don’t stop singing
Ms. M. I hear you call my name and it feels like
God is gone like a crow with a mouthful of gull
Martha Silano
Martha Silano’s most recent collection is Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). She is also co-author of The Daily Poet: Day-by-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practiceand her poems have recently appeared in Cincinnati Review, Cimarron Review, Carolina Quarterly, Sixth Finch, North American Review, and elsewhere. Martha teaches at Bellevue College.
