Guest Poet Rebecca Wysocki
Tequila
In my drunken haze
I view through the trees
a couple
a trick of light
in a cabin above the lake.
Can they see me and this man-
boy on top of me?
They were there when we finished the last
of the tequila
when I saw him push her
to the floor and
kiss her hesitant mouth
when he got up and unzipped.
Did they notice me
struggling to get up before
he smothered her again.
His body rocked gently
rocking I watched as
he slid under my shorts
between my legs
while I watched them
pushed him away
surprise muted by tequila.
It's o.k. he lies
in her ear and moans
unable to move I watch
the couple light in the cabin
more intently
they rock against his trusts
while I wait for them to be done.
December, 1997
Rebecca Wysocki's Questions:
Should I get rid of lines 6 & 7? Does the question work? Also, what kind of mood or feeling does this poem suggest to you? I have a very strong feeling in me as I write this, but I'm not sure that I'm successful in conveying it, so I'd like to know how it reads now.
Correspond with Rebecca Wysocki at
rwysocki@cauto.com
with your ideas about this poem.
The Will of God
"I always think of a story I heard
on Christian radio," she says
crossing her large arms
washboard hands
"About a woman
abused for years
by her husband.
He became a Christian.
It's all worthwhile then."
ThewillofGodThewillofGodThewillofGod
Abundant life
beat your wife
or girl
or child
or me.
The lie of a woman
sleeping with Satan's servant
helpmate.
ProclaimthewillofGodthewillofGod
Be saved by my grace
the heroine
the martyr.
"It's all worthwhile"
To the black and blue children
hiding beneath the stairs.
Towhotowhotowho
To you praising the golden calf
you're beat with.
Unending peace joy and happiness
will be mine
for my sorrow.
"The will of God," she says
"for man and woman.
Let no man split apart"
her lip, her skull, her heart
"what God has brought together."
Serve the god who beats you
around whom life revolves.
Thewillthewillthewill
My God says
"My plans for you are plans for good
and not for evil."
My Love says
Truth.
December, 1998
Rebecca Wysocki's Questions:
When I wrote this poem, I heard many voices in it. Does the poem succeed in creating the effect of many speakers? In the second to last full stanza, do the last two lines pull the poem down? Should they be kept, modified?
Correspond with Rebecca Wysocki at
rwysocki@cauto.com
with your ideas about this poem.
The Albany Poetry Workshop