You thought me cute
when I asked for a
lock of your hair
that afternoon we
met at your salon.
You giggled as I
pressed blonde ringlets
into a shell-shaped locket.
slid it in my pocket.
You didn't ask me to
return that token
of love when you
threw my engagement
ring into the East River
during our last quarrel.
I haven't heard from
you
but I heard from your mother
you're suffering mysterious
pains, empty appetite.
she begged me to visit.
I know it's not unrequited love
gnawing at your marrow.
It's the sharp hat pins I stick
into the round faced doll
pasted with your blonde locks.
Tonight I'll stretch her limbs
just a little farther
then pull the pins
before I come to see you.
You'll find pain only ends when
I'm near. You'll come to believe
reprieve from pain proves love.
Peter reads "Sympathetic Magic":
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Peter confesses: "I was sorting through some old family possessions (couldn't really call them 'heirlooms') and I thought how we associate certain objects with people. And what if those objects really did have power over the people they touched? Any resemblance to old girl friends of mine is completely coincidental."
PETER M. GORDON is a poet and journalist whose poems have appeared in The Five-Two, Slipstream Magazine, Poetry Breakfast, the Journal of Florida Literature, and several other magazines and anthologies. Peter's poetry collection, Two Car Garage, is currently available from all online books stores. Peter teaches at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
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