"How strange and terrible to
approach a human being through
the envelope of flesh and find
a soul." -- Isadora Duncan (1878-1927)

moon over alcatraz
hot summer night
deep belly moan -- tlk

that cry of the mother
only twice comes
at birth and at death -- id

sweat of my brow
glistens
on your silhouette -- tlk

precious pearls from
closed oysters of silence
if we could only dive down -- id

passion so raw
your precious career
my hunger for words -- tlk

blend together
poem, melody, dance
live in the scene -- id

calling in sick
burning with fever
my breath, your breast -- tlk

I live in my body
like a spirit in a cloud
a cloud of rose fire -- id

a drowning sensation
when you raise my wrist
to check the time -- tlk

like the sea
over a bold swimmer
I close over my lover -- id

wanting less
than this diamond watch
wanting more -- tlk

illusion of happiness
the envelope of flesh
what men call Love -- id

one white lie
like one dot
on the first domino -- tlk

youth
wonderfully elastic
believes everything -- id

opening curtains
closets, doors
shadows disappear -- tlk

behind the mask
one can divine
uneasiness and suffering -- id

your answering machine
never answers
my questions -- tlk

so-called happiness
does not exist
there are only moments -- id

satin ribbons
leading under the bed
pink ballet shoes -- tlk

man
all humanity
the whole world must dance -- id

* All stanzas attributed to Isadora Duncan are excerpted from her autobiography, My Life
 (Boni & Liveright, Inc., NY, 1927).