He taught what fathers teach,
but not the dew and if

though who would kick beauty in the teeth? (O bitter
      aftertaste!)

This fact shamed, appalled, excited —
like some beautiful stranger one hunted when one was
      young,

And day fades to mind: a purple
drugged on lush, sweet,
thick late summer.

How daring to become my clever, lying
grandmother and before that my sister whose loved,

Why would an orgasm make someone weep?
Why, for being loved now when one had not been.

Couldn’t look at myself. I trust you saw my taupe
skin on the clammy bedsheets clearer than I did.

the world is not an example of anything. My
mother's voice calls us to dinner, and we both
stand, my brother and I, faithful now

The trick to posing newlyweds… but everyone
knows how you must incline them
to lean imperceptibly toward the warm flesh

to say, “We are home, but, no, we are not here now.
    Please don’t leave us a message.”