Mermaid Tattoo Becomes Enmeshed . . .

artwork: ralph murre

Mermaid Tattoo Becomes Enmeshed

in Her Relationship

by Sylvia Cavanaugh

I was crafted carefully and with cunning

to link my ink to this relentless red flow

nailed down to the pulse 

like a seashell ocean’s echo my 

two dimensions bend and arch

they ache to the rhythm of his three as

I’m plastered flat to a twining twitch

of muscle and deeper down

I sense the bone I cannot grasp it makes

my stomach turn and yet my

tiny nipples burn I yearn for him

trapped beneath the death of him

as his outer layer flakes away

and I’m the only witness

we hover over women with

their open legs like rowboat oars

the wretched separation 

distantly they beg for us and

gnash their teeth

we heave and sweat

the salty sea and thrash

a flash of scale on

spangled tail

'til his eyes roll back

and stare through mine

~ first published in Peninsula Poets

Woman . . . Man . . . Fish . . . Bicycle

photoart: sharon auberle

Woman…Man…Fish...Bicycle

by Sylvia Cavanaugh

Perfectly round ova

nested within

were formed along with the rest of the body

in the shelter of a mother’s space

from her own singular orb

round eggs round the chain of

life it clicks along

propels a forward tide

while men burrow down in furrows of

clone technologies make their

swimming cells redundant

whiplash tails

accidents of evolution

all come down to our bodies

our brains

and our inventions

like this red and gleaming two-wheeled frame

perfect fit between two legs

propulsion honed to hip and knee

press of foot and ankle flex

thumb and bell cry

we are coming

we are coming

self-satisfied we

cruise a moist planet

her many trails

~ first published in The Camel Saloon

B-boys of Green Bay

buenos aires graffiti, digitally re-imagined

B-boys of Green Bay

by Sylvia Cavanaugh

Asian b-boys in Green Bay

breakdance in Boys and Girls clubs

in Madison gyms they session, too

Menasha, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee

story re-writes itself in those who move

cultures fuse to dream anew

right foot lifts and steps aside

followed by the left

yet the center always holds

mid-western cyphers ground this dance

gravity partners with defiance

they fly in the placid face of it

South Bronx lynched in ‘70’s style

freeway fuels spontaneous combustion

Kafka jives to a Latin beat where

all that fly are colors

two turntables spin to just one song

layers of loose linoleum whirl helicopter legs

dizzy headspins on cardboard sheets

remnants of desire

windmills shrug off concrete floors

far to the west a mountain people

also lived on slash and burn ‘til opium

smoked their crops to cash

alchemy of imperialism bespoke a

golden triangle secret

war and hidden trail

hunger’s flight through clicking steps

of landmines and helicopters hurling souls

scattering winds

extended clans gone nuclear

b-boy flies up off the floor

released from footwork, spins, and one-armed stands

statues himself to a landing freeze

integrity gestures to the ground

because all your pieces and all your steps

and the way in which you rock the beat

dance the very math of funk so that

two against three adds up to One

~ first published in Verse Wisconsin

Hot Flash

artwork: sharon auberle

Hot Flash

by Sylvia Cavanaugh

To forge weapons

with fire

is a sign that we are civilized

but the taste of knowledge

had its price

dealt in a currency

of fertility

in calendar clicks of counted days

a real blood bargain

paid periodically

paid in labor pains and

in pre-menstrual syndromes

but now I wield

my own damned fire

to cauterize the wound

the first sin settled up

my womb

now sweated caustic clean

Adam’s bones are mine

and he is scorched

turning on these embers

he re-arranges and adjusts

looks at me

across his stiff

cold shoulder

and winks

~ first published in Red Cedar