Patti Masterman Poems

The stormy petrel scans the blue waters
In the depths a starfish hunts its mate
Mermaid dozes in watery caverns
Dreaming the seahorse chases her-
...

We swam through the miles of back-lit stars
Hanging like pale gemstones above black velvet,
The inlet dropping warm saliva from the seas
Upon our valiantly upturned faces.
...

Strange that all we are's a bit of pock marked plasma;
Fish scales and staring eyes, hair and claws,
Skin tissue with some epoxy seeping through.
A bit of webbing, a bit of cartilage;
...

Playing both sides of the field
Has always been my augur of recompense;
And I can't be a hypocrite, for there's far more
Than two sides to me now;
...

the night written down awakens love in a verse
each death hunting journey of exposure
lives on in starry mountain lights;
old men together often go quiet,
...

You're just a bobble-headed girl
Living in a zero-gravity world
But someday I hope
We can get you a real brain
...

If a child's bright eyes were ever hurt by me,
On purpose or accidentally;
I should think it the worst pain a being could stand,
And fear revocation, even as man.
...

You always got on my nerves,
But then I saw your photo:
You are old; far older than I imagined
With the kindly look that the aged often acquire
...

If old church ladies were given Charge over the universe
I can see a few problems that would develop
Almost immediately; envision myriad plastic tubs
Filled up with meteors and asteroids,
...

I see that he has commented upon every author
Whose prose wears a seductive face, drawing him in;
Nakedness, embracing, and a theory of moonlight
Conspiring to fasten lovers together as one
...