Fat Ode

O blessed

be the prose of wood that blooms

the body’s rose as such

O beautiful

the too-muchness of these statues

from head to burnished toe

O bountiful

circumference of ribboned wood

& every whorled skirt

O unabashed

surfeit of flesh blushing

beneath the carver’s hand

O abundant

ballad of the rounded belly

& canticle of thick ankles

O eloquent

the speech of fat, of slackened arms

& thighs squat as turnips

O redolent

the brushed pinks & reds

of brazen mouths

O marvelous

all the more for the bold fractures

in their palm-oiled patina

O wondrous

contralto of robust goddesses, plucking

joy from the lyric dark

(exquisite shiver

of memory, how

you devour me.

When I see your uplifted

faces, by a thousand

cuts, am I freshly

slayed.)