Indelible
—What does the child resemble when it is in the womb?
It resembles a folded tablet (pinkas).[1]
Having worn myself out naming Bewick’s wren,
Pediculosis pubis, and Saint Helena giant earwig
Cain names my problem, which is, “Your Father.”
He says, “You’re like some German orphan.”
I taught Cain how to harvest blueberries
with his skirt, how to remember his mother’s
birthday (when the calla lilies start to die).
He always wears a beatific smile.
When Abel died, I dreamt wild, empty outrageous
dreams of drowning myself and would have
except for his sister whom I loved and would have
published her name to the world. That was the Adam
I was. I mean, if my name equals “a man,” I don’t
understand definitions. Poor armorial Vater, Marlboro
smoker, insurance adjuster, grousing about the secretary
who fucks up your fucking claims and a future
sucking all the pink from out your lungs—
if I name you correctly will you die?
[1] Hershon, Paul Isaac. The Pentateuch According to the Talmud: Genesis. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1883. 170
