The Farmer’s Wife
Joe GonnellaAfter Hitchcock
…don’t forget to air your master’s pants, Minta— he’ll be the next to wed!
Lord, judge of all, give drunkards a rest & look after lovers.
Marriage steam-rolls hope from men & joy from women but is sought by both!
Many here have longed for some other & fallen on a post.
Come to my affair at the appointed hour!
Time’s tail—held— names names.
Paper & paint delineate what’s possible & what’s not.
What’s taken? what’s given?
From behind she beckons.
Cheek by jowl is how you’ll live.
Pillow & feather bed are a comfort for the invited guest.
Luck bubbles from the slit throat of the select lamb.
Sweet land follows down hill from the fertile field for those who sow.
A fox drinks to his own success & eats the fat hen for breakfast.
A child knows what a battalion doesn’t.
Yes is no for those who understand.
Iron fist— supple whip— simple wish amounts to the same reward for those who acquiesce to the one in charge, despite despair.
Plumb icy depths or sink without a trace.
Thin men seek fat women. Fat men seek thin girls. Old, seek young. Ugly seek beautiful. Everyone is unhappy with their fate.
By fire things either melt, burn or smolder but they never leave unchanged.
Marry a boy: burden a man.
Marry a girl: trouble a woman.
Next stop or nightmare you buy your ticket & you board your train.
As a worm I came & to the worms I exit— what’s between passes as a lightning flash.
By your repenting will I lose?
By my salvation will you fall if two are not made one?
The underpaid are over-whelmed. The wealthy worry they were over-charged & wreak havoc on those they blame for their diminishment.
Tonight, the stars are animate & bright.
The void is breathing.
The planets are seeds in fertile dark.
Things proceed from nothing as out of null number follows number into the infinite.
