Poetry Suite by Nicola Maye Goldberg
“in silk and a chemical cocoon
you sleep”
Poetry by Nicola Maye Goldberg
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strange animals
you were a dead man
with a sweet tooth
you loved
your bruise bright babygirl
my open legs my butter teeth
we did terrible things lit up
by Friends on the hotel tv screen
shimmering unforgivable
king and tragic queen of
that snow choked city
in the morning you stood by
the window, hungry
& shining like an exit sign
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a cautionary tale
he found me in the woods
the dirt was cold
the dirt was cold against my back
i could feel the breathing of
a thousand buried bodies like
an ocean moving beneath me
he broke time in half, the way
a sunbeam slices through dawn
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after an act of cruelty
glowing morning
the weight of lilies
is intolerable
a woman is
an omen —
your voice soft as
a durer rabbit
saying small things
this room has
a fever, the ashes
of angels stuck
to the windowpane
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A WOMAN SURVEYS A TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN PASS
I want
a little doll
with red hair
That fits right
beneath my arm.
I want cold
water
and blue
eyeshadow.
I want a coat
as soft as skin
And a room
with a view
of the river.
I want him
to suffer
as I have suffered.
I think I could
fit the sky
inside
the hole
he made in me.
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Elegy
in silk and a chemical cocoon
you sleep soundly above the city.
a thousand lights
like a thousand eyes begging
to close. they don’t want to watch you,
doing what you do.
they resent witnessing it,
the shining decay of your life.
you’re a dead
woman and people will like you better
once you acknowledge it.
your friends will bring beautiful flowers
to your funeral, which will fill
your apartment with their strong and lovely perfume.
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Header image courtesy of Faith47, to see her Artist Feature go here.
Nicola Maye Goldberg is the author of OTHER WOMEN, forthcoming from Sad Spell Press. She lives in New York City.