Oracle (poem)
Oracle
Be ossuary of the boneyard
Be statuary of the arcade
Stealing tale-bearing, stop
Freeze in relief but soft
Catwalk over the under with stealthful feet
An icicling drip of sewer fat
Piles on the pit of the catacomb
That underpinning of the street
A caryatid hefts upon her head entablature
A spinning wheel rips the thoroughfare
Twinning of bitch and bully
The New Hermaphrodite
Polished trinkets may be carved therefrom
Or take the thing and mount it on a plinth
Be reliquary of wooden splinters
Be mortuary in alley of monuments
Where the famous bring their pilgrims
Paying rent
But other rents are sought
It very nearly is a plot
Were you asleep the day hope dressed itself
Then lie awhile yet
Delphiniums may grow on limey soil
Or pigs be fed a mix of bone and mash
Salt bacon for your voyage o’er the Styx
Ask her, when you pass that isle, what three-eyed Fate
predicts
Oracle
The Sovereignty
(2018, Stephanie Foster)