Tuesday Poem

Eve’s Fall Through Technology

1. The Telegram

Ate the apple. Stop.
Serpent in love. Stop.
Leaves browning,
berries sprouting mold.
Everything dropping,
staining my feet. Stop.
Can you forgive me?

2. The Telephone

I can let it ring all night, high-pitched bells
black as the bags under your eyes.
Are you still jealous I was chosen?
He slithered off
fast as the snuff of a candle.
But my ringing won’t stop.

3. The Fax

Enclosed is my confession. Read it over, sign, date, and send back ASAP.

The serpent wound up
my inner thigh.
Risk-taking was my halo,
paradise calibrated.
He tore the seam between us.
I know you are hungry. I know
you are lost. My days
are a frayed immersion.
I peel and core and slice
apple after apple
to taste their rot.

4. The Email

After you blogged me off, everyone shunned me.
Even the spam has stopped.
My inbox so empty
I surf unjammed
to nowhere.

5. The Text Messages

Is this really what you want?
Me marooned 8? Me :’’’)? Me SOZ?
No, not SOZ.
RU there? WTF
ILU IHA
The serpent is not my BF.
TARFU
I dn’t know how t stop fruit from falling.
Only t run louder than any letters can spell
You want grace?
LF

by Pamela Garvey
from Blackbird, Spring 2011


Key
8 = infinity
:’’’ = weeping
SOZ = sorry
IHA = I hate acronyms
BF = boyfriend
TARFU = things are fucked up
LF = Let’s fuck