aerial life

taurus dp 355

the tissu is hung
it wafts in the breeze
red like a great gash
it is soft and difficult
wrap yourself in it
roll it around your leg
fall into its arms
spin at the end
like a stellar top
the star Aldebaran
red Rohini
follow the sisters
in their flight
think yourself light
as helium float
your way to the top

Rohini

rohita = red, roha = rising, rohini –3 meanings: a red cow; the star Aldabaran in the constellation of Taurus; a young girl who has just begun to bleed

Rohini sees red

Rohini sees red
It’s not the bull ring and it’s
no matador dancing in the sand
Rohini’s red is of a different
order altogether – her eye
is a giant star glinting red
a galactic trill

I see red
as my car ploughs into
the roan flank – she leaps
onto the bonnet – shattering
glass splintering my lap
as the shards swirl in
galactic thrill

You see red
my friend as you ride
the wave surfing the edge
of yourself calling upon
Gertrude’s favourite
cow of all, a multiple
galactic spill

This poem was first published in Sinister Wisdom 76, Spring 2009