Lucy Logsdon
THE BECOMING
When a union
becomes a violence,
when a violence
becomes a brass
bed, when the bed
wears a red starred
quilt, when the quilt
becomes the pain
you rest upon,
when the dinner
plates become
fragments, when
the fragments
become shards,
when the shards
become weapons,
and the weapons
become kisses,
then the kiss becomes
lie, and lie becomes
husband, and he
becomes harm
then harm becomes
night; night, day;
day, year; year, time--
which becomes stopped,
and stopped becomes
death, while death
becomes living,
then become
is unending,
and escape
a dangerous door
that slams
and your hand quick,
yet betrays you
and your wrist weak
within bones,
then as an animal
trapped gnaws off
its snared limb,
tears muscle apart,
sever the self,
you will leave
when departing's
impossible,
let go to offer up
the violence
a hand still
holding
a doorknob,
while its body
walks a bloody
path marking
a road.