Pigeon Blood

Sometimes if I close my eyes just right
I can see my blood pump
thru my skin
especially in the sun
& the cells run through me
like a river of lava
small volcanoes
erupt in me every day.

I get angry
& can't admit the answer to my regret
so solid
its form takes up volume in my body
when I wake, a spider
has bitten my armpit, my nodes
have swollen so I can't rest my arm
seething, I brush my teeth
& begin my day.

Some rubies are called pigeon blood
the most valuable have purple glints like bruises, as if
a cardinal had mated with a stellar jay. Cardinals
can have as many as four hatchings
in one season. April is the first month
usually. It is the month e.e. cummings said
dreams dare to do people
& not the other way around.

The pigeons on my street dream
at night. I can hear their tender longings
for food hatching desire
the neighbors feed them cooked white rice
& for some reason they eat it
when you want something
sometimes you take anything.

Published in www.burnsidereview.org vol.1 issue 2