SHE HAUNTS MY HEART

and patrols my borders;
she stands guard
in corridors & chambers
where Cherry Blossoms
& bloodied moons
are whipped by frenzy
into an ignorance
of desire.

Enslaved
only to her own
paranoia, the poison laced
with a mother's love,
she sets tripwires
for the naive
& firing squads
for the masters of war.

Today
is like a truce
between troglodytes
birthed from a traumatic narcissism:
one who is very comfortable being home;
and the other
unable to move--both
very much in love.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2019

ANTICIPATING

harm,
confrontation
of some kind
constantly
afraid
of what lurks.
I don't know
what
but
I do know
it's there
coming
to get me...
and you,
too.

Norman Savage
Greenwich Village, 2015