Francis Rose's Sestina
(written when she was sixteen)
(introduction)
The river of time crashed all the windows
in the little house. My life is not a circle,
the man said. I hate furniture
the old man said, and I hate it when you talk.
The man said my love
is better than this house. It is better than time.
The man's love
crashed all the windows
in the little house. The moon is not a circle.
The old man's back is eased only through furniture
and the sound wet dishes make when they talk
in the sink to the water. The man wonders what time
has done to his love.
The man said to the old man, my talk
is the only love
you ever get. Besides, time is not a circle.
Even though summer and water fly through the window,
you die. The old man pees on the furniture
Because he needs more time.
Outside the window
the sky is marked by fire and leaves and rain. The moon is furniture
Everything is furniture. The clock is a circle.
The rain, the moon, and the clock talk.
The old man loves
the man. He pees in time
with the rain.
The man asks the old man why don't you ever leave this house?
The old man's teeth are like seeds, broken circles
that mash the soft bread. The old man does not talk
The man says it's time
to leave, lets go. The rainy window
gapes behind the furniture.
Outside smells and wind come in the window
But neither of the men go out.
The old man fingers circles
on the wet surfaces of the furniture.
The man thinks his talking
bends air and time
into a knot that ties the old man to the world outside.
But the old man is only tied to the house. He talks his love into the sky.
The man talks to turn love into a circle but the old man knows it is only fragile furniture.
Neither the man nor the old man understands why the window groans.
Francis Rose's grief
Francis Rose's letters to God from
when she was:
[14]
[14]
[15]
[15]
[16]
[16]
[16]
[17]
[17]
[18]
[18]
[18]
[20]
[21]
[21]
[22]
rain and frying meat
old corsages and underpants
It is snowing
people with soft lives want time
the sestina
the sestina's introduction
brittle, cluttered sentences
airplanes are not angels
people talk in fluttering prayers
please don't be a mirror
thin webbing
sodder the minutes together
fields torn off of a green sun
the sky burns with stars
Tractus Love-cannibalism
Francis Rose's sweater drawer
