Meiosis by MK Chavez
This is the second date. I’m thinking
of the dictionary and fellatio
and the fact that not much further down
on the page you find the word fellow
and this doesn’t mean much, but fellatio
and fellow don’t always go together.
I study his face, looking for some sort
of Geronimo in him, if only
he was a constellation of man,
someone to be counted on to do
something, but I’ve put him under
the microscope—
This is quite the expedition
we’re swimming here, small talk like
air bubbles. The walls of the restaurant
are periwinkle. I want to lean over
and say please don’t speak, I just so,
want a chance to undulate.
This date feels like a cell. I become
a spore, could sink. The intervals
of my breath float, midair, like pigeons,
the birds that people hate. He laughs
says things like “pussy
cat.”
Note: Interesting. He took to cats
after he watched one kill a bird, its bloody
muzzle is called charming. I pretend to laugh
sounds like a cackle, “Isn’t it funny,” he says.
He named the kitty “Killer.”
January 16, 2009 at 2:27 am
MK Chavez writes about the beauty that can be found in ugliness. She is co-host of Acker’s Dangerous Daughters, a San Francisco reading series of Cherry Bleeds Literary Journal. Chavez has three chapbooks Virgin Eyes, (Zeitgeist Press) and Visitation, and Next Exit #9 with john sweet (Kendra Special Editions.) You can find out about her up coming publications at http://www.littlebrownsparrow.com
January 16, 2009 at 4:58 am
A poem like a scalpel!
January 16, 2009 at 6:43 am
Cats and birds. A date like a cell. I like this one.
January 17, 2009 at 12:46 am
Yeah! I love it. It’s the best date poem ever and I’m so excited to see it here. Your biggest fan and I do mean biggest!
January 17, 2009 at 11:40 am
Not cats and birds, but life and death. Well done.
January 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Fantastic! I found you thru Scot aka Midwest Poet. Love your work. Very happy to ‘discover you.’
January 18, 2009 at 5:59 pm
MK,
I like the way the poem goes inward, towards the feelings of the speaker, really deep, and is very outwardly descriptive too.
It is like a microsope, yet you get the sense of hurt, of disappointment.
Nice work.
January 19, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Ah those second dates!
The humor in this piece is wonderful – wanting Geronimo and finding a man who loves for a cat comes from blood on its muzzle.
Her examination of the mind at work – pondering fellow and fellatio, placing bits of evidence under examination, making notes – compelling
And then the range of imagery from the cellular, or subcellular to ‘constellation of man’ again captures the moment by moment workings of a mind, and more; the yearning to leave words behind and undulate in water – what vibrant imagery!
February 12, 2009 at 10:38 pm
[…] for reading—and newest poetry is up on Rusty Truck (Scot Young’s new online literary […]
March 2, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Aw! You capture the dark humor and oddities of dating. Eugh! Wonderful. Thank you.
January 30, 2013 at 11:48 am
i love black humor; the inkier the blotter, err i mean better!
Her pome is analogous to A STORY OF SIX STRUNG OUT WORDS 😉
Meticulous asshole punching everything together; poifect!