My Cane
Yesterday, I walked the lane
Where once I lived
And found my cane
Not yet a cane
But only just a dogwood limb
Barked and petalled still
Lying in the lane
Within a boy's dream
And I thought back then
When fifteen years were all I had
To make my cane a Moses staff
To walk through all the world.
So, I sawed the broken branch
And deflowered those pink blooms
And skinned her naked
Bathing her in good shellac
But I didn't know then
She'd be my lover to be
Kept by the corner of my bed
She waits for me
To come home to her
For me to hold her
And caress her now yellowed curves
She wishes I would stay.
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