Prophecy                                                                                                                 —Kiki Petrosino


You have a good belly for twins. I can see you
at thirty weeks, your skin bright as automotive paint.
Rejoice, now: your life will be full of blessings.

Your twins wear little caps, little suits, on the bus.
They munch animal crackers under a striped shade.
See? You have a good belly for twins.

They'll remember you best in your pink gown.
Your hair cinnamon-dark, brushing your waist.
Rejoice, now: your life will be full of blessings.

Arrange raw almonds in a dish with lemon & salt.
This is how you'll be: whole, yielding. A planet.
You have a good belly for twins. I can see you

coming home to everything you own. Your white
motorcar. Glass ornaments on the sills. Your twins
are such blessings. Rejoice, now, at your life

lined up like azaleas. Your life unfolding in air.
When will you take your turn at the spade?
I can see you, twinned. But you have a good belly  
for now. Rejoice in your blessings, you fool. 
 

Confession


Every month I decide not to try
is a lungful of gold I can keep for myself.
Still, I worry you'll come to me anyhow

& hitch your hiccuping bud. My dear
I don't want to be got. I just want to get done
with this month. I decide not to try.

I decide on a wine. You keep spinning
through the woods on green stars of pollen.    
Still, I worry you'll come to me anyhow.

Your small breath troubles the flour
I'm spilling. Did you leave sweet jam on the sill?
Every month, I decide not to try

to find out. Late sun butters the glitz
in my guts. My dear, I'm already botched.
Still, I worry you'll come to me anyhow.

Lately, I've dreamed of quilts stuffed
with hair & bees; it's a thing. Yet I don’t see
why I worry & worry. You come to me anyhow   
every month I decide not to try.

Kiki Petrosino

Kiki Petrosino is the author of two books of poetry: Hymn for the Black Terrific (2013) and Fort Red Border (2009), both from Sarabande Books. She is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Louisville, where she directs the Creative Writing Program.

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