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O Madonna

not that Madonna THE Madonna,
the one with the white lacy bra
ten too many fake-jewel bling-blings
o honey baby lord and ladies help me
when I leave home my hand sani
and every bathroom from here
to Chehalis is closed oh woe gah
hear me as I grieve for the one who
sloughed their smoke blue scarf who’s
carrying who’s packing who’s got it
who’s it what’s it and so’s your Aunt Lizzie
and the heck I know big question yoga
or paddle big important question
chicken enchilada or a la king am I
hoarding or going for broken? Breaking
out of my rage rut or pointing my covid toe
at your rashy shoulder life is a mystery
a felon on the far shore who knows
if they’ve got it white white good
has never been called a whore like her
like the angels that rattle like the stutter
of a kingbird when a queen is what gets you
through the birth canal o don’t stop singing
Ms. M. I hear you call my name and it feels like
God is gone like a crow with a mouthful of gull

 

Martha Silano

Martha Silano’s most recent collection is Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). She is also co-author of The Daily Poet: Day-by-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practiceand her poems have recently appeared in Cincinnati Review, Cimarron Review, Carolina Quarterly, Sixth Finch, North American Review, and elsewhere. Martha teaches at Bellevue College.

About

Martha Silano’s most recent collection is Gravity Assist (Saturnalia Books, 2019). She is also co-author of The Daily Poet: Day-by-Day Prompts for Your Writing Practice and her poems have recently appeared in Cincinnati Review, Cimarron Review, Carolina Quarterly, Sixth Finch, North American Review, and elsewhere. Martha teaches at Bellevue College.