2 poems by Puma Perl

may i approach

may i throw myself against the walls of your spirit
may i touch you without thought or proper dress
may i approach you in your twisted shame
may i listen to your secrets scream and die

may i approach you as you sit in judgment
behind your bench of black robed fear
may i enter into your court of memory as
your thousand fingers glitter and point

may i walk unarmed unclothed unkempt
may i testify in my brooklyn voice
may i stand accused and unrepentant
may i approach you one last time

may i approach your furious hands
may i stand before you in your rage
may i confess to you my jaded innocence
in your honor, may i be dismissed

© Puma Perl


the sun doesn't care

where fences
keep us
from the river
i sit alone
on a broken bench
pathologizing
the sun
as it careens
indifferently
between
bridge and sky

looking up
i watch
antlike creatures
ride bicycles
toylike
subway cars
rumble by
the sun
doesn't care
who we are
everyone burns
sometimes

© Puma Perl