Mother's Day

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

For those of you looking to send Mother's Day cards beyond Hallmark, I offer

the following, courtesy of James Broughton:

 

LITTLE PRAYERS TO BIG JOY'S MOTHER

 

Her Consultation Office

 

O Transcendent Therapist

recondition me

 

I lay my smartass at your feet

Trample it

I lay my blabbermouth in your lap

Strangle it

I lay my blockhead in your hands

Chop it off

Chop it for kindling Burn it

 

Any chance of a baby phoenix

rising from the residue?

 

* * *

 

Her Massage Parlor

 

O Metamorphic Manipulator

iron out the ouchy kinks

that nip my physiology

Flex me Supple me Lubricate

I aspire to an acrobatic body

 

My heart is set on performing

appropriate arabesques

of stretch bounce and leap

to celebrate the graces of

your omnipotent agility

 

* * *

 

Her Operating Table

 

O Crackerjack Surgeon

sharpen your shakti

I am ready for the knife

 

Cut me wide open

Cut out everything

rotted and noxious

 

ruptured vows

malignant grudges

cankerous vanities

 

Excavate and scour

every toxic cranny

and fetid nook

 

The sew me together

regenerated and buoyant

in convalescent bliss

 

* * *

 

Her Kitchen

 

O Chef of Ineffable Nourishment

I am a gluttonous devotee

of your salubrious vittles

>From daily bread to angel food

you do everything to perfection

 

Bring me your blue plate special

and everything else on the menu

I will pig out on your goodies

till I am stuffed to the gills

with edible enlightenment

 

* * *

 

Her Dressing Room

 

O Paragon of Purest Style

for you I divest my armor

my finery my tatters

 

Down to the threadbare habits

down to the last little vestige

I strip to my stark for you

 

Clothe me in sumptuous light

Tailor me to capacious radiance

What smarter raiment exists?

 

James Broughton (1995)

 

* * *