by Donna Masini
Water Lilies 5
the air’s alert
a Parisian jumps at the least
sound, it’s the law
of hatred, rule of Ares
sewer of ire
a weary aisle
of fear, the stairwell
climbs down or up its
own dark rails
Fear has a long lease
retails
see it in the child’s welts
the wallets
of suffering and riot
suffering in the east
the west
What is an iris
to that? A lily? A star?
A sweet
roll from the now-dark café? It’s
the last straw
a waiter (writer)
says (in French); Ariel’s
attack of fear; he wears
he says, a sweater
of refugees, the late
bombed-out sites
The aria
of war
je suis allé
he says, why write?
Water Lilies 6
like straw
in a storm, you are still
at the least
provocation, aswirl
almost real
like the water
Monet painted what we can’t see
then the lilies
like coins spilling out of water
trees, will-
ows, bent at the waist
hair falling, weeping trees
air and water
water and air
and you, sister, still
reel after reel
against all laws
aswirl
Water Lilies 7
suddenly welts
weals, wrestle
onto my skin, a series
of trails
I am my own walls
my body’s rash atelier
rails
something writes
from inside, tells
retells
my sister dragging the tail
of her oxygen tank; the weariest
days, shadows, trees
ills swell
nothing to erase
nothing to ease
I come to the wall
and the wall
all welter, swells
Water Lilies 8
Clear morning with will-
ows that will
never wilt
leaves, water-
plants,lilies
open like wallets
and wars
Who tallies
who reels in the literal
corpses? It’s the law
of will
art of waste
the world reels
late stars wobble on the easel
(Water Lilies Floating)
water
lilies
will
airwait
air
iris
air
east
wars
water
teals
west
wisteria
trees
writeair
water
will-lilies
laws
ows swirl
aisle
air
reels