A fierce and violent opening

Blood is gushing everywhere
From the lips of the bear’s face
Out the elevators
The children’s eyes
When they are taken down by the ax
The whole hotel is overtaken with blood

You know I’ve started to think
You really shouldn’t say
Things you don’t mean
The way you gushed into me
And then that woman
Who seems so much older, and isn’t

Dear woman, I read your essay
That fate could have been me
Blood is gushing from between my legs
I can’t feel a thing
No really
I can’t feel a thing

When they propped me up
They said, oh, she’s so strong
But I am not
I cry too
I cried for you
You left me, always, in the rain

Dear love, you were so brave
The blood exploded within you
You were that whole hotel
Could have been us
I gushed
Out came the blue-green cream
More Poems by Dorothea Lasky