The Quilt
this is not the fire island sand but molten lava
we are burning you talk strange land i stalk
cross-country fabric handsewn name panels sequins bulletins
daily road of photographs painted resistance flashes pennants
albums whistle jockstrapped cats tuxedo stars t-shirt butterflies
feather dolls leather bears patchworked lives cut three by short
joe / testimonies / counsel / memories / lew / fantasies /
it’s them / they were here / it’s them / they were here /
pinch myself no tv mixed media homo epidemic hemo quarantine
virus junkie the blood hiv test semen rockhudson kaposi’s cdc
t-cells liberace pneumocystis bad blood terrydolan antibodies azt
voodoo arc a 1721 africa roycohn opportunistic gmhc condoms nih
always the blood michaelbennett willismith carriers gaetandugas
asshole president commission syphilis positive safe sex vaccine
joe / testimonies / counsel / memories / lew / fantasies /
it’s them / they were here / it’s them / they were here /
we might not make it through the fog grids display epitaphs full
circle headache grips art faint thunder the skies dark clouds
perhaps kleenex cry sap strength bereavement project burdens
horrific holocaust imagery in this tragedy 100% futile
judeo-christianity infamy in this travesty 100% fatal
our country ’tis of teflon gipper’s bushshit
joe / testimonies / counsel / memories / lew / fantasies /
it’s them / they were here / it’s them / they were here /
Notes:
This poem is part of “Déjà Vu: A Folio on Assotto Saint.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the May 2023 issue. All poems and essays in the portfolio are from Sacred Spells: Collected Works by Assotto Saint (Nightboat Books, 2023). Reprinted with permission of Nightboat Books.
Source: Poetry (May 2023)