Patti Masterman Poems

Could I but choose, out of each one alive
To find the one, most resembles my soul:
My mind's very image, of he who dwells
Exactly at center, and not the poles.
...

I'm nobody's favorite Jezebel
I own myself like a stray dog
Owns a bush or tree
And nobody's after me.
...

Here a secret's been passed down
In quiet tears of passing years
If you give every dropp of love away
That's only yours, to give
...

I weigh out the hanging silence:
An anchor suspended above an abyss
In abeyance, I look for any light's kiss-
I never wanted to do it like this,
...

Memories and time give other meanings
Prehistoric nerve was made of almost nothing-
Roots, berries, and salamanders in fire
Some metals possess the same memory: they can be bent
...

My death waits inside of you
Seeking a tangent rebirth
Surely if a single plant
Can hold the whole life-cycle of creation;
...

short men
devastate
most, my heart
for when
...

six stone deep
i buried her baby
because she'd walked asleep-
for fear she'd dig it up maybe
...

said flowers, blooming
said trees, swaying
colors, emotions building
fears and doubts allaying
...

gardens flower in her blooming breath
my faces trellis there, linger vines
faint rumors; fueled histories of death
stilled hearts cut from holy valentines
...