gynarchy

gynarchy\ JIN-er-kee, GAHY-ner-, JAHY-ner- \, noun;
rule by women or a woman.


breasts, legs, neck, belly, we rule
by more than these. hair toss, eye

lash, nipple button: more than these
even. a suggestion of hips and you are 

gone. we have two sets of lips to tuck
yourself into. who is man, then? a rib 

bone, maybe. you are all too willing 
bones for breaking and more-making.

pittance

pittance \ PIT-ns \  , noun;
1. a small amount or share.
2. a small amount or share.
3. a scanty income or remuneration.

Pity so much that is small is overlooked
the paperclip the shadow the strand of hair
that tickles your shoulder the way I
tickled the hairs at your neck do you 
remember that or the way our fingers 
touched the way notes are passed secrets 
exist at the rims of our fingers and who 
we've kissed and how and where and who 
was near that bartender that one time
she knew in that small way she tipped
her head to look away such small things
can be so important pity these moments
pity those moments gone by pity
small numbers that represent years
those small numbers represent years
three sixty five is not enough and yet pity
it would never have been enough.

quincunx

quincunx \KWING-kuhngks, KWIN-\, noun: 
1. an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
2. Botany. an overlapping arrangement of five petals or leaves, in which two are interior, two are exterior, and one is partly interior and partly exterior.


If I am partly interior and partly
exterior, what does that mean for the trees?
Sure, they live longer; their skin 
needs to be that tough. They know it isn't 
safe to reveal their beating hearts though 
they are pumping more blood
than you or I. And each leaf
that falls from their branches is more
than a loss. They cannot even stoop
to pick them up again. These parts
lay on the ground and disintegrate
and they cannot even watch. And then, 
from within them, they must feel
new ones sprout, push themselves out,
glittering and soft. None the same and yet
all of them known. And the green
would make the tree weep, if it only could.

gibbous

gibbous \ GIB-uhs \  , adjective;
1. Astronomy.  (of a heavenly body) convex at both edges, as the moon when more than half full.
2. humpbacked


A humpbacked moon does turn 
its back on us at night, huddles 
its shoulders. a dull shade and a grin, 
while he hides the bright bulb.
What the sun must think of him: 
a lover no longer known. She shines 
because there is nothing else to do, 
nothing else for it. Were they not
always doomed? For instance, 
it is always the moon with you. 
And river water. And the eyes 
of street lamps and so many stars.