my mother caught every possible hint:
the alignment of family shoes
askew near the door was a lottery poem
only she could read: beware of intruders.
code lay under the rhythms of daytime ads,
god in newscasters' laden gazes as
they spoke of her hometown or ailments
my mother knew her centrality well
her brain a kandinsky of crosstown traffic
of clanging connections, every meal a divination
she tosses together garnished words
long after we've barred her from the kitchen
impious, i shut my eyes to pareidolia
see only moon rabbits when told how
find never messiahs but weevils in my cupboard
go unchosen & afterthought, hardheaded
all hints are enemies, the subtle too close
to dissembly. i return innuendo by twisting
a pithy meme into a conviction:
you cannot love me in a way that matters
venus in Aries, my ramheart
can only be pierced by a fire arrow
give me someone with a chest full
of declarations. i will hear nothing less