mystery to me

the magnet between us?

are we not fanatically enchanted?

honorary members of that favored union?

and what happened to that strength we bred,

traversing miles of desolation highways?

didn't we stare down our former dreams of horseshit?

have we exhausted our dreams of finding endless music?

mystery to me

exacting so many empty words

as we stumble into each other’s prisons,

even when we sense

the language we use

is foreign to one another

mystery to me

this montage kinship

where we neither recognizes the flow

seeping away carelessly,

devoid of empathy,

grim patterns now well established

mystery to me

why we are compelled

to drive off another cliff

when there's another need to feel the magic,

to remind ourselves of this shared attraction

that we are women

burning with manfire?

must we once again

gather our castaway chips

to recklessly wager them once more,

pretending excitement

inside this wax museum

where we reside,

mystified prisoners

who cannot escape

from each other?

1978

Bisbee