Doongalik Check
for Jackson & Pam

i.
like a bottle of wine
or juice or soda
mouth approaches mouth

he’s going to empty her
or she might empty him

or he’ll half-drink her
and she’ll half-drink him

for certain
they’ll both be drunk

drunk already
on what they have in mind
on what they intend to do

with lips, with nakedness
with hands to roam

over sweaty Heineken Beers

ii.
great big woman
like a thick blanket
for a thick man to hold on to

in the thick
in the dead of winter
in the dead of night

dead weight to lift
threshold to cross
into eternal bliss

iii.
Haitian presence, Haitian presents
unlike Santa’s, arriving perennially

iv.
and what is this scratch for
what has this scratch done
to or for or against my rhythm

more into it or more out of it
more deeply alive
or am I about to die

swift scratch, self-inflicted
what if I am or if it is infected

no antiseptic near enough at hand
to reverse what damage has been done

back of this pin DEVOTED
with heart and cross
intended for salvation

back of it off
scratched across

am I doomed
am I damned


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2008
6:10 p.m. 04.04.08