Rice: Poems

Woman Holdin’ Up All Deeze Folks

176 Woman Holdin’ Up All Deeze Folks Whenever they have come to take us by blade shotgunshell rope or induced sickness there is always still more of us to go around we never run out of each other there is always more of ourselves more still more where we come from There is a woman with arms that they cannot have that will not go with them that they cannot take there is an armed woman Standing in the middle of the ocean 177 holding up the sky holding down the ground screaming at all she has seen With one finger she throws some of us up she plants some other of our feet way down in bedrock she lets all the others float liquid unseen through the air around her she tells them the air is not crowded but to watch for the dip of ironbirds that come sometimes and they do they do We are cover we bedspread the sky Whenever they have yanked 178 decided to pull us up we send for the woman with arms That they cannot have that will not go and she pours ourselves back down all everywhere around until we are three plush pile thick There are flying rugs of us everywhere in layers we lie all whichaway by spatial global law we keep we are Rough linen brokenjaws and stiff cashmere cotton eyes in every taken-up tree and unpoured ocean drop in any open space some of us are there filling We are the puffed up purply air the sweet swollen ground layers of floating fabric sheets of keeping hands and feet ridin’ clouds 179 like camels we bedspread the sky we never run out of each other there is always more where we come from we keep the world fat and dandy ...