Simple
(n.) plural sisters. Archaic.
A nunnery or brothel:
of Mercy, of Charity,
of the scabbard or bank;
multiple suster,
the Graces and Fates,
a support step, palm’s
parallel to the lifeline,
a sister child (also known
as a nephew, a niece).
It’s twisted, sister,
how in the name of order,
group erases group.
Dismissed beyond the single,
hemmed in, shamed by,
we try to suss out
isolation, discover
what keeps Baby in the corner,
in the tower, in that hut
in a forest craving
and luring alone,
dreaming through Hollywood
on a porch swing,
by the man in the moon.
We are the light
of the hairbreadth
and stone’s throw,
the bushel basket
and deep hollow.
In a word, power
sundered. Which is
to say, modest.
My dears
and women,
gals and ladies
of the shared
night sweats
and menses,
birthing controls
and canals,
thoughts bodied
so as not to forget
what comes with this
wisdom, a vision: visage
of Uta Von Ballenstedt,
bloodied heel
and toe, too
ugly, too beautiful,
too simple, too
wise, too old—
division of us, sisters.