mermaid legs/ whiskers/ open mouth/ callipygian bark/
semen sap/ elbow fold/ knees/ arms stretched above a head/
torso swung upside down/ hair sweeping the ground/
breasts/ cave turned inside out/ toes holding on/
eye socket/ palm/ thumb/ twisting veins/ freckle/ bellybutton/
vulva/ ghost fetus/ nose/ nipple/ thigh/ petrified cloud
***
Fast growing ficus roots can push through wood structures, lift cement sidewalks, patios, and driveways, even bust through brick. They can crack septic tanks and water pipes, trample or choke out other plants.
***
I fed my lover a sacred fig, a mistletoe fig, a creeping fig.
If he was sad, I served him a weeping fig, then a clown fig.
After we argued, he gobbled a lofty fig, a wavy-leafed fig, a common fig.
When he left, I covered myself with a leaf.
Denise Duhamel is the author, most recently, of Blowout and Ka-Ching!
