In the Third Sleep (Beep Beep)

by Mark Laliberte 

(after Kay Sage)

(i) 

Horizon for sail: an anchor! 

Y-axis roared in like an engine; 

fair swan whose ribbon has fallen, 

root-routed along the factory track. 

(ii) 

Oar or orgasm, unmoored! 

Erection, the insertive partner; 

both miracle and curdled monster, 

a cure for a lump in the throat. 

(iii) 

Behold the inquisitor’s soft anvil! 

Icy penitentes pray to fallen cones, 

shame dunce-running their ritual; 

a search for acme without rancor.