In the Vortex

In the Vortex

                  i am              metallic voices                 words detached and ratcheting

stilettos over razorblades

I am              the schizophrenic sizzle of insistence

sterile ejaculate                      the seesawing fist of fatigue

I am              a dead-end thoroughfare          a blind alleyway      

the belly of death

oh brother       don’t think you can hold me

i batten hatches against you

and our sister                       who would fix me

i have fixes of my own

my feet are rooted                 in this swamped and sodden lawn

look closely                 i am smiling in the vortex

whirling in your wake

from your outside                   i see the ramrod

but                      understand               i imagine

nothing