Patti Masterman Poems

Nothing carries an unbearable certitude,
Like a line of sight going nowhere-
The map delineated, all in blank;
No need to move, no need to think.
...

The heathen moonlight comes
To the windows, begging alms;
Like the light in her eyes, to calm
(and ask for whatevers crumbs)
...

To live in your body like a room,
Like the skater goes twirling, into deeper sleep;
Eyes-closed skier, going the downward slope.
...

Another forever, to find you;
And another, for whether to keep
These eyes that adored- could they bind you-
Like a dream, only found in deep sleep?
...

There are spotless moons, and there are spoons of silver;
But I am the praise of a mighty river.
There are diamonds born, there where ghost-storms shorn,
And Earth’s just an arrow in the Hunts-man's quiver.
...

I don't hold much with memorial poems for the dead-
I mean, at least give them something they can really use;
Like a new Styrofoam wreathe, with some hideously colored
Plasticine flowers, for a start,
...

Our soul dances through life,
We catch our own irresistible rhythms,
It takes us like the wind, never in a straight line,
Never completely still.
...

To see all the wonders of this world
You must stay permanently in love,
With the firmament, the rocks and stars;
The ocean's rhythmic tidal caressings.
...

There's a withering fire to the touch,
When bequeathing our alms at midnight-
The stain-glass bursting with secrets,
The statues holding back the daylight.
...

I've been chased by things almost formless
in a void fertile only with horror;
bodies made of black energy,
burnt roots, twisted wire-
...