Matthew Moore

In Swatchel-Cove


The most opaque
Confers of sufferation.
Guignol, Punch,
Judy, Janey, Jeanne,

Coital tempers are
Whipsawed,
Broke the fever in
Horn–mutes,
Stifled with accessed
Air, settled by

Mouth, saprophytic
Harbinger,
Hucks far what a doll
Cottons to, wagers on,
Pines for,
Unstoppled.

History, cued music at
Pitch put
To screws,
Notched in bedpans,

Nailed on bedposts.
Bastard, bitte,
You most know
I command you.
Unlikeness, tongue, say
With a tongue of teeth,

Say twice twice.
I am host, too,
To history. Voices are
Most host to me.

Matthew Moore’s work has appeared in and is forthcoming from journals including Kenyon Review Online, Lana Turner: A Journal of Poetry and Opinion, Prelude, and Sonora Review. With the poets Logan Fry and Caroline Gormley, he co-edits the poetry journal Flag + Void.

 
 

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