Aug. 4 2003

Fogging the mirror-glass in the bathroom
and writing on mist curses or Christian names,
or tic-tac-toe, though misted over at first,
to clean the specks off from sporadic flossings
or foam-spots that fly from the toothbrush
and fingerprints, white whorls that to the forensic examiner
would say enough, silenced with the sponge
swiped across the surface. Now tabula rasa, we rebuild ourselves
before the mirror, according to movies and the deeds
of their protagonists, who manage a flippancy in peril
that would get the rest of us fired. Lotus pads
in rock pools, their leaves reflecting the canopy of jungle
flowers pulverized in fat and packed in tiny alabaster jars
bronze mirrors through which a gauleiter thoughtfully regards his wig
of Jeri curls.... Tiki torches release their firelight in a vertical stream.
Mortification of the razor and lather, eyelashes to be trimmed
or plucked, unwanted body hair removed at a premium,
even the fingers massaged in marble bowls with rose-water
and the sword-hilt polished. A shepherd runs after a girl
down the spine, and a chasing of orchards and sheep...
some stagger into brambles and smell the eucalyptus,
and the running man’s legs fleecy. Were this not in bronze,
the woman would be Rubensian pink and rose tinges
with her sunbonnet off, her pubis sandy, her hips wide as
viola da gambas! But the scene terminates
where the bare sword tapers. Mars on the other side rules.
If he shaved he would have had the rocky pragmatic face
of Titus Vespasian or some wise guy. Beards are good that way,
disguising the blemishes, acne scars, deep pockets
make-up can’t brush off. Around my wisdom-tooth
are pockets that I cannot clean. They need to be removed
is the professional opinion. Tiny as they are,
they push the rest of the teeth in the wrong direction,
with their crowns, their amalgam, disguised as ivory,
the constant metal bridges that run above short valleys
burnished to seem as if they’ve melted into the four humps
of the incisor, or the other teeth that grind and grind.
They are razor-like for biting, the same principle behind
the clam: the shell extends by secretions of calcium
lengthwise, and the mouth is the principle bridge
between the air and the internal organs that are said
to move with the sea. This rumor has been disclaimed.
In their efforts to get underground, the roots of hardwoods
tumble over one another and knot above the soil in bolls
that are not to most unseemly. Toenails can be strong
as coins or cowrie shells, if not cut for art’s sake.