In the Temple of Margaux, the Doctor’s Boy Beseeches the Wolf
After Sarah B. Boyle
In the cellar of the doctor’s cottage,
the boy snugs hard his pillow, clenches
eyes, rips nailfingers against the walls,
flails against his guilt. The footsteps
of the doctor sound on the floorboards above,
skindust litters the face of the boy,
the pacing falters, the boy’s heart, a kitchen sparrow,
flaps, flaps, flaps.
In the frame Margaux leans against a table,
a cigarette burns in the ashtray before her,
bangs slash her forehead.
Sayeth boy: I last saw her in the kitchen.
Hurtspun and glittergone,
she shimmered in the air.
Refuse it, refuse it all:
all she has known, her perfect face
the lies that ring her head,
oh halo, oh wicked joke,
oh now you shall pay.
Things he can’t take back:
The wrong path, the attic fire,
that time he forgot to keep a promise.
Prostrate yourself, but remember,
worship of animals is prohibited.
In the frame Margaux hand is burned,
she rubs an ice cube over the wound.
Sayeth Doctor: It was a mercy, an errand, a
gag between wood teeth, the seconds counting,
strappado.
In the frame Margaux lies on her back,
arms outstretched in a crop circle.
Look now: Wolf’s paws severed on the stone tableau,
his teeth plucked one by one from his mouth,
defanged, de-eared, de-pawed.
No, sayeth doctor, animal sacrifices are rejected.
Sayeth Margaux: It is cold and we gather earth,
wolf will hold my suitcase as I step into the rain.
Remember, it’s only the parts I take with me that matter.
All else you burn.
Hang, hanged, hung.
Wolf sayeth: She was once such a beauty.
Boy begs wolf: I never meant this.
In the frame Margaux is caught in the exact moment before
she sheds a limb to escape.
After Sarah B. Boyle
In the cellar of the doctor’s cottage,
the boy snugs hard his pillow, clenches
eyes, rips nailfingers against the walls,
flails against his guilt. The footsteps
of the doctor sound on the floorboards above,
skindust litters the face of the boy,
the pacing falters, the boy’s heart, a kitchen sparrow,
flaps, flaps, flaps.
In the frame Margaux leans against a table,
a cigarette burns in the ashtray before her,
bangs slash her forehead.
Sayeth boy: I last saw her in the kitchen.
Hurtspun and glittergone,
she shimmered in the air.
Refuse it, refuse it all:
all she has known, her perfect face
the lies that ring her head,
oh halo, oh wicked joke,
oh now you shall pay.
Things he can’t take back:
The wrong path, the attic fire,
that time he forgot to keep a promise.
Prostrate yourself, but remember,
worship of animals is prohibited.
In the frame Margaux hand is burned,
she rubs an ice cube over the wound.
Sayeth Doctor: It was a mercy, an errand, a
gag between wood teeth, the seconds counting,
strappado.
In the frame Margaux lies on her back,
arms outstretched in a crop circle.
Look now: Wolf’s paws severed on the stone tableau,
his teeth plucked one by one from his mouth,
defanged, de-eared, de-pawed.
No, sayeth doctor, animal sacrifices are rejected.
Sayeth Margaux: It is cold and we gather earth,
wolf will hold my suitcase as I step into the rain.
Remember, it’s only the parts I take with me that matter.
All else you burn.
Hang, hanged, hung.
Wolf sayeth: She was once such a beauty.
Boy begs wolf: I never meant this.
In the frame Margaux is caught in the exact moment before
she sheds a limb to escape.