An Anthology of Poetry and Medicine
pecan, rodef, clam
like any nut zipped up
tight in its shell. like a clam's
clipped momser, the locked
maw talked open
by fire: by burly water
waitressing flesh, flat as a tongue,
to sterile plates. under fissures, a
soft sloth, holy fruit, hare
-lipped by cleavers:
the devil's hand. sweet
meat of the tree. bone
boy, edible kernel, marrow
of roots, hung up
on earth. like a palmed
pit, disappeared
into its own
stone jacket. loony
seed
in brittle furniture: lone
in a rooming house; even
halved, only
one twin per womb.
first published in The Jewish Daily Forward