Fall/Winter 2014



John Amen

PURGATORY

    for RBC

after the Iscariot boys leave
we’re alone again in the dining hall
yr arms now thorny branches
Villafrancas bursting from yr overhang

I pluck a ripe sample
from the tip of yr middle finger
sinking my teeth through rind into a glistening pulp

laughter sputters from yr knotted mouth
the waiter says welcome home my exiled beauty
boiling water cupped in his palms

you adjust the folds in yr gown
studying the menu as would any debutante in transit
grainy eyes rolling you announce
I know what I want
I reply I don’t


John Amen is the author of four collections of poetry. His next collection,’ strange theater’, will be released by New York Quarterly Books in 2015. He founded and continues to edit The Pedestal Magazine (www.thepedestalmagazine.com).

 


 

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