Eli
  
 on the floor
 recovering from yoga 
 I listen to the marbled glass ceiling light
 the waves playing a soundtrack 
 from a 1980’s cult movie 
 old world Baba Cool – 
 Only a handful of people I know 
 would probably remember that film
  
 and today on 
 The Other Side of the World
 my friend 
 buried her son.




Biking Mater Nostrae 
  
 Plump mound of Venus
 Orange lace legs
  
 Toffee colored saddle
 Thrusting nose
  
 Denim mini dress
 Pregnant belly

High heels pumping
 Amsterdam 

 The Time When I Brought Chengdu Peaches to Singapore
 
 Between my fingers
 this poem
 not so distant from a peach
  
 Peel it
 hang it below one nostril
 wok fragrance in other nostril 
  
 Have you ever tasted 
 the swollen peaches of Chengdu?
 so much more flavor
 than the muzzled fruit of the West
  
 Packed carefully 
 lucky red box 
 ready for Singapore landing
 friends and family 
 urgently feast
  
 But at our table
 untouched fruit and
 your withering question,
 “How was China?”
 rot then, my gift 

 
  It’s a Bagel
 
 Some concept, poem or bagel
 garlic versus sesame, makes me
 worry openly about longevity.
  
 But I know for either one
 the road is a short, seasoned trail.
 
 Just a half dozen or even several thousand
 ceremonial bagels and prospecting poems
 all dolled up for judgement day
 routinely buried with niceties
 and a tad of suspicion, gosh -
  
 all those calories.
  
 

Copyright Persephone Abbott November 2021