Hermaphropoetics / Blood

by Rochelle Owens

In an early version
a deaf mute
a hermaphrodite
captured after the siege
a hermaphrodite
emptied of allegory
seated on the stump of a tree
wearing body paint
his soaring paper thin
shoulderblades
the dome of her skull
his earlobes
the angle of her nose
his fat ankles
her perfect toes
his legs collapsing under her
multiple hues of flat color
triangles of purple
circles   squares   stripes
Teasing femme / homme
hypermasculine   hyperfeminine
murderous sex cells
her long pale eyelashes
And gazes upwards smiling
An altruistic mother’s deathless love
Deathless love saved the babe
an impure creation
carnal /spiritual
pale and red his lips
she could feel and taste colors
his mouth watering
Meek sweetness the face the face
of the hermaphrodite
her platinum blonde curls
bringing millions to their knees

In a later version
out of a lost narrative
a deaf mute
seated on the stump of a tree
covered with tattoos
an asymmetrical form
vertical / horizontal
an impure creation
she could feel and taste colors
A hermaphrodite
out of the center page
the edge sharp   dangerous
hidden before the siege
Spasmodic the spirals of color
astrological symbols
a kaleidoscope slowly turning
purple   orange   blue
shards of green glass forming
letters   abstract designs
His mouth watering
taste buds pulsating   a flow
of hormonal forces
hypermasculine   hyperfeminine
murderous sex cells
signs and wonders   veins   muscles
sweat glands   ligaments
intertwining   darkening ruby-red
burning silver
the marrow filling the cavities
neurological linkings
streaks of burning gold   thick   thin
strokes alternating
slashes of color seeping
He sucks evening to morning
milk of the mother misery
milk of the father terror
She sucks morning to evening
milk of the mother misery
milk of the father terror

tasting the color drippings
nipples spurting nectar
An altruistic mother’s deathless love
Deathless love saved the babe
an impure creation
carnal / spiritual
the shape of blood poured
into a cracked cup
pale and red her lips
her arms floating above
red and pale his fingers pulling
the spirals of her hair
blood of the hermaphrodite
Meek sweetness the face the face
of the hermaphrodite
his platinum blond curls
bringing millions to their knees