Alicia Ostriker – Ⅰ -
Family: Attemped Speech
A family of no conversation
alternating monologues and silence
at time shouts and blows
someone hitting her head against the apartment wall
as her own mother did
which she so hated
we loved each other only through our pores
what to do with this love we could not conceivably say
so family is a way of demonstrating
how incomplete we are while belonging to each other
like tires of an armored car we can never drive
artichoke leaves around a hairy heart
dear sister let us tell this open secret
let us wave the painfully specific dented kitchen spoons
take the canned peaches from the dusty shelf
listen to the radiator knock
let the story flow like milk
to a nursing woman’s breasts
let it open like the door
to the crying room
For Amy
A family of no conversation
alternating monologues and silence
at time shouts and blows
someone hitting her head against the apartment wall
as her own mother did
which she so hated
we loved each other only through our pores
what to do with this love we could not conceivably say
so family is a way of demonstrating
how incomplete we are while belonging to each other
like tires of an armored car we can never drive
artichoke leaves around a hairy heart
dear sister let us tell this open secret
let us wave the painfully specific dented kitchen spoons
take the canned peaches from the dusty shelf
listen to the radiator knock
let the story flow like milk
to a nursing woman’s breasts
let it open like the door
to the crying room