I.
Maxine
I used to admire your talent
for saying nothing
so well
that way the blood
was always someone else's
and there was always
someplace left
to be yourself
the stranger.
II.
Elaine
my sister outsider
I still salute
the power of learning
loss.
III.
China
girl on the run
I am sorry
our night
was not black enough
for you
to hide in.
Jan
was a name
for so many people
I cannot remember
you.
V.
Margaret
the broken rock you dropped
into my pocket
had unrelenting curves
that would not polish.
I discovered
it was the petrified half-shell
of a prehistoric nut.
VI.
Catherine
you lie
against the earth
like a little pungent onion
and whenever I come
too close to you
I weep.
VII.
Isabel
I hear your blood ring
but I am tired
of friends who hurt
and lean
at the same time
my heart grows
confused
between your need for love
and your need for destruction.
VIII.
Joyce
you always hated
being furious
and without anyone
to kill.
IX.
Janie
I feel the scream
drowning in your sharp eyes
trained to impersonate mermaids
shallow seductive
and dangerous as coral.
X.
Flora my sister
what I know
I no longer need
to understand.
If you make me stone
I will bruise you.
XI.
The last hole in fortune
is the anger of the empress
knowing herself as mortal
and without child.