Two Poems by Robin Richardson
At This Stage Of The Journey Our Hero Pauses To Consider A Difficult But Necessary Course Of Action
We were crotch-deep in a Himalayan snowdrift
when it occurred to me to kill him. It was Lolita pink,
the air I mean, a body inside out so wind’s an inhalation,
ice mitochondria, and so on. We held mittens, catalogued
the landscape: cocaine, Bob Ross, holy folk who hold
their breath for days while knitting sweaters. He gave me
everything I thought I needed. Everything, he said, so long
as I stayed faithful. I would stay faithful. Meant it too but wolves
one feeds are still wolves and his beard keeps getting bluer.
Blue are the wives he ferries in that burlap. As if
I wouldn’t look. He naps inside me. When he R.E.M.s
my violence piques. I’ll do him in like Sam McGee.
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
but we moil for more than gold
It’s the tail end of a sadist’s trail
and this rivalry’s making me bold
The Empathy Conundrum
Good girl, he says, good curled quiet on the carpet like a charm.
I’m everything he wants because I want for nothing. White
bread, water and an aptitude for happiness through forfeit.
Fuck it. In the mirror a goldilocks goes nuts for having glimpsed
the warmth of bears. Their homestead everything she knows
she’ll never have. Lean orphan in a panic as the anchorman
unveils litanies of others even worse for wear.
There is a wilderness that knows me better than I know myself.
There is a house, a hedonistic wish to disappear
through wardrobes to a war that’s fought for God. In Gaza
missiles craft a show worth sitting on the roof to watch.
Goya with his brush makes execution picturesque.
I’m frenzied daily by the beauty of what breaks me.
About the Author:
Robin Richardson is the author of two collections of poetry, and is editor-in-chief at Minola Review. Her work has appeared in Salon, Poetry Magazine, Hazlitt, Tin House, and Joyland, among others. She holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Richardson’s latest collection Sit How You Want is launching in 2018 with Véhicule Press, and her memoir Like Father is forthcoming.
