Revista Literária Adelaide
Secret Nights on Loop BeƩy Boop Marries Herself
Rising from the briƩle fur Her camel kneels
and oily scales of sleep, & BeƩy steps down
I swell on each ledge of night into the midnight Ganges
wedged between two bulbous feels the gentle push
knees of defeat. AcrobaƟc of the current
thoughts chafe: will when she submerges
I lose my balance the pearl halo of
on this too taut her linen robe Ɵptoes
trampoline? into the swirls
Never a simple and eddies
now but a how of the river’s open
will next words throat. Her voice
unwrap the cardboard lightly bebops
face of next day? the waters to sleep.
She feels the barge
I am open rust, of napping monkeys
yellowed light make safe passage
mourning over stars, from her vagina
permanent-press tumbled dentata. Calla lily
too long in the dryer. behind her ear
Each night I awake she launches
to this dark room, into the darkness
bed in a web a leaf bowl
of black yarn, strands criss filled with
cross me into Ɵght-fisted frangipanis,
memory, singed premoniƟon, her carved love
a maniac hill of beans. spoon a confident
I ache for a holy equaƟon oar. BeƩy’s curves
to release me yeast-like dissolve into the tender
through the two-way mirror pull of current, red
promising gently baked petals bobbing
golden brown day. to the surface
like a menstrual
milky way.
149
Adelaide Literary Magazine
Arboreal
When the March storm wouldn’t spare punches
and our front yard elm snapped in half,
its broken body collapsed across the driveway.
The luxuriant crown sprawled across the wet black,
rasped for lost sustenance. Impotent,
I watched from the window and notched
my life with yet another tree:
The billowing pink bouffants of dogwoods
that intoxicated my young daddy,
the weeping willows that forgave
my parents’ fights--
My brother and I crawling under skirts
of a cul-de-sac’s giant pine, our secret
club for beheaded Barbies
and stolen cigareƩes--
First kiss along the river
in the sƟcky hollow
of a trunk’s furry bosom,
my mother’s glow as confidant--
The sheltering pin oak that won
my father’s heart when he made
his first downpayment
for an abiding couple’s grave--
SenƟnel twin maples that celebrated
my homecoming from every morning run,
three witness oaks murdered by our
next-door neighbor, grieving crows for days.
Each spring, tree men troll to our front door and swagger
their chainsaws for internment of our broken elm.
But we adore our stubby Pippi Longstocking
in ballerina’s fiŌh posiƟon, buoyant
branches sprouƟng for the sun.
150
Revista Literária Adelaide
My Pantry
Crowded with shelves it knows how to shelve
canisters of worry that pretend to be hermeƟc
and brave. Good at orderly conduct
but bad at assortment and prayer. When
you gingerly open its louver doors
baby moths will sprinkle the air.
My pantry nourishes latent messages
and sƟr-fries hope that’s gone stale.
It oils a gluƩony of delicacies yet
garnishes with flavors too frail.
I don’t fear indigesƟon. or lament what’s
gone pale, but I quesƟon this pantry’s
duty to what should be kept in the dark
versus what to yoke and impale.
About the Author:
Rikki Santer's work has appeared in various
publicaƟons including Ms. Magazine, Poetry
East, Margie, Slab, Crab Orchard Review, RHI-
NO, Grimm, Slipstream, Midwest Re-
view and The Main Street Rag. His fiŌh poetry
collecƟon, Make Me That Happy, was pub-
lished recently by NightBallet Press.
151
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Adelaide Literary Magazine is an independent international monthly publication, based in New York and Lisbon. Founded by Stevan V. Nikolic and Adelaide Franco Nikolic in 2015, the magazine’s aim is to
publish quality poetry, fiction, nonfiction, artwork, and photography, as well as interviews, articles, and book reviews, written in English and Portuguese. We seek to publish outstanding literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and to promote the writers we publish, helping both new, emerging, and
established authors reach a wider literary audience.
A Revista Literária Adelaide é uma publicação
mensal internacional e independente, localizada em Nova Iorque e Lisboa. Fundada por Stevan V. Nikolic e Adelaide Franco Nikolic em 2015, o objectivo da revista é publicar poesia, ficção, não-ficção, arte e fotografia de qualidade assim como entrevistas, artigos e críticas literárias, escritas em inglês e português. Pretendemos publicar ficção, não-ficção e poesia excepcionais assim como promover os
escritores que publicamos, ajudando os autores novos e emergentes a atingir uma audiência literária mais vasta.
(http://adelaidemagazine.org)
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