Barefoot
July 5, 2023To The Painter Of An Ill-drawn Picture of Cleone
July 5, 2023Again And Again And Again
You said the anger would come back
just as the love did.
I have a black look I do not
like. It is a mask I try on.
I migrate toward it and its frog
sits on my lips and defecates.
It is old. It is also a pauper.
I have tried to keep it on a diet.
I give it no unction.
There is a good look that I wear
like a blood clot. I have
sewn it over my left breast.
I have made a vocation of it.
Lust has taken plant in it
and I have placed you and your
child at its milk tip.
Oh the blackness is murderous
and the milk tip is brimming
and each machine is working
and I will kiss you when
I cut up one dozen new men
and you will die somewhat,
again and again.
Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was an American poet and playwright. She was a leading figure of the Confessional poetry movement and is best known for her works that explore themes of mental illness, death, and sexuality. Some of her notable works include "To Bedlam and Part Way Back" (1960) and "Live or Die" (1966), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.