Exclusive Neighborhood / Black Widow by Michelle Hartman

Exclusive neighborhood

From the foot hills the vast city
of wealth spread
along shady avenues.
Tended by those too poor
to live there.
Marble and Alabaster
carries the day
as choice building materials
stones with names and dates
grace wrought iron scrolls.
Fiery Angels guard
from tops of towers
a pit of palaces
backed by battalion of chipped, faded
statues sinking into mud.

Every step past relative or friend
the hypocrisy, loneliness & fury
of this place, the faces trapped
in old photographs
abandoned candle stubs & dead flowers
& here is another hole
yet another steel box.
Rejoice, Rejoice another
member of the party!

 

Black Widow

She kept the skulls.
Scraped, boiled, and polished
      they adorned de rigueur black velvet.
At dinner one lucky ex
       is chosen to dine with her.
Tantalizing aromas enter
      jagged nasal openings
          waft out starring eye sockets.
The consommé makes her smile
     with joy as she strokes Burt or Russell
          behind aural cavity.

She remembers
standing over him,
expression that of impatient vulture
waiting for a dying wildebeest
     to get on with it.
Good food, good memories,
     a fat bank account
          mark of a successful woman.  

Michelle Hartman is the editor for the online journal, Red River Review and holds a BS in Political Science-Pre Law and a Certificate in Paralegal studies.  Her third poetry book, Lost Journal of my Second Trip to Purgatory was just released from Old Seventy Creek Press. It is a poetic treatment of child abuse and the effects it has on adult living.  It is the first book of its kind by a recognized publisher and is available on Amazon. Michelle's other poetry books, Irony and Irreverence and Disenchanted and Disgruntled, from Lamar University Press are also available on Amazon.