Tag: Wenzl Petrak Bautista

get shot:

the tiger
stalking your soul
demands the lead
aimed at your head.
hedge long enough
and the claws
buckle under the weight
of jealousy heavy
as any hunter’s boots.
growl,
leave paw marks in
and out of this jungle
bearing fear like fruits.

love can pull
triggers.
   (April 2, 1980)

what children

having played house
now drag the fingernails across
blackboards, drawing attention
from dolls & coloring books
      illustrated
            with house rules.

sucking thumbs hours after
there is pain
during laughing games,
we gaze at
our hands
thumbless without identity.
   (April 19, 1980)

tolerate
their tales.

wagless
dipped in ink
like handkerchiefs
that won’t
knot.

trying hard to rhyme.

blood and tales
refill
poets and
classrooms
losing grip on
a world
tattered red
and white.
   (April 17, 1980)