JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

He waits for the underworld to pull up to the curb

open door, invite him in

Gala is there too in her various guises:

 

Sybil the snake sibilant and silhouetted in her sixth silk skin

Catherine the coxinelle queen carefully combing cascades

Olivia oiled in obsession inside her overcoat an onyx

Roberta raped repeatedly repentant refreshed, repeating requests

Priscilla the prude peeling papayas into pink pockets of panties

Innocent Iris issuing insistent iridescent invitations to enter

Olga omniscient once, now audible only in obbligato

Nina, whom he never knew, navigating her newest nuances

Seven saintly sisters sipping psalms in silence

 

Inside the black Cadillac a blacker widow

and two smiling scorpions beckon

 

He enters and is consumed

a fiery phallic Phoenix