gram linski

" It would give me great delight
and crown my poetic career,
if I could only write
what no one would wish to hear, "

from Goethe 's Faust,

Genesis

the skins
of my poems
may be green, yes,
and sometimes
wrinkled
or worn

the snake shape
of my song
may cause
the heel
of Adam and Eve
to bleed . . .

split my skin
with the rock
of love old
as the rock
of Moses
my poems
love you

Etheridge Knight