Happy Birthday, Lady Day!

a
A few days late,
But you were
always too
early or late.

Early r(e)aped,
Late for joy,
What a strange fruit!
But you always kept
your wits about you.

Your adamant core
still shakes me
& makes me,
it sets my every string
a-buzzin'

So much sorrow
(how rarely sweet?
or were you also
the Lady of Illusions
& Self-deceit?)
in a charred,
sharded lifetime.


Half a life-
always prime time.

They ate you up,
gobbled you
with shrieks of pleasure -
the buzzards!

Shackled
to your hospital bed,
to your heartbeat,
you draw your last breath
yearning for another low?

I
desperately
want
you
for
my Grand
mother /
lover.
I
want
you
seared
in my flesh,
since my soul
you've already
branded.

Truly
Faithfully
Forever
Yours.

B
a