Rachel Blau DuPlessis

 

Rachel Blau DuPlessis

Draft 73: Vertigo

                                   Prologue: Even Tie

                                    Viva, fidgeting roses!
                                    Do men interrupt them
                                    vexing blank calyxes to prompt them?
                                    Vote volta-face for diagnosis.       

                                     “Already with thee”  vs.
                                     alterity of thee—it’s heady.
                                     Are you Ready; are you composed?
                                     Can you go a third vertiginous road?

                                     Light comes thru the letter.
                                     That’s what one awaits.
                                     An alphabetic knock “oe vert”
                                     at the folded gates.

                                     Sirenic joy! the site erupts—to pour
                                     its cockamamie allure
                                     on the fragrant cipher
                                     exfoliating separate, e-quill plunder.

                                                          §