Liver Fungus; Papaver Somniferum

Poems by Rosemary Pitman-Redmon Liver Fungus Liver fungus spreads, bright red on stumps between gardenias and African violets. Women blue pale fabrics by the pumps; the sky is filled with smoke let out by pilots. Between gardenias and African violets, broken pots and dirt form little clumps. The sky is filled with smoke let out by pilots; children in the grass scratch chigger bumps. Broken pots and dirt form little clumps. Railroad men pass by with fishing nets. Children in the grass scratch chigger bumps; a soldier in the yard is eating biscuits. Railroad men pass by with fishing nets. Women blue pale fabrics by the pumps, a soldier in the yard is eating biscuits. Liver fungus spreads, bright red, on stumps. Papaver Somniferum O Morpheus, God of Dreams! Your arms surround me like an Oatman's shirt. In the dark alley infected arms dangle like limbs after a hurricane. A virus sings beneath my skin— music from childhood, fingers are fat crayons, purple and red. Death ambles toward me like a tired hosiery salesman. Bury me in a field ofpoppies! 28 ...