May 11, 2012 21:01
Pagent of Rages
Joan Cusack Handler
Hot & w i l d as Rosalba’s chili, ANGER parades in purple patent
pumps & an orgy of R i b b o n S blanket the floor.
She has long black lashes & emerald
lids, strawberry lips & cheeks, &
around her neck, she wears
tiger eye,
marcasite,
amethyst,
turquoise&
diamonds.
Nothing is too much for Anger.
Anger is Absug
Conducting
a choir of F SharpS.
Sunday mornings, she’s a giddy feast o f g u l l s
at the East Hampton Dump. Anger is
a huge red parachute,
a hot air Balloon,
& a beanstalk that shOOts up like Jack’s did.
Like money for candy, I can never have
enough. I’ve lived so long without,
wanting it
but afraid of it,
I will Never get used to Anger. I LOve my ANGER.
Open the Door!
I’ll fill the house with It
with enough left over for the
nuns & priests.
Anger is a HURRICANE,
roofstornoff&
down the river.
It’s a superstore of chocolates & pizza, silk coats
for every party, pedicures each night. Anger is
failing e v e r y thing one month
then Acing the next.
It’s a crowd of cantors at 6 A.M. Mass.
It’s perfumed nuns in low cut dresses
winking at priests.
It’s Kafka & Bankers & idiot savants,
Mussolini & Mozart, Warhol & Tevye,
& a h u g e Ice Cream Sundae painted by Van Gogh
Anger is
s t r o l l i n g t h r o u g h a s t o r e, taking what you want withoutstoppingtopay.
It’s sleeping in the desert,
coyotes to sooth you, then wailing in the forest
with a chorus of black crows.
Anger is resentment,
irritation, aggravation, exasperation,
vexation, indignation, animosity, wrath &
bitterness. Infuriated,
it’s ire, mad, temper,
dander,
pique,
stew, huff, tiff, miff,
conniption,
paroxysm,
rage, passion, fit…. Anger is Shit, Piss, Fuck,
Asskisser, Cocksucker,
Cunt, Dick, Putz,
Asshole,Dildo, Puzzy,Suck,WhOre!
The eleventh commandment
preached by my father, my mother,
the doctor & nuns, my best friends’
grandpa
& the Yo-Yo King:
Thou shalt NOT Be Angry!
Like the fat woman in her girdle, I
learned well to stuff it. Find a pocket or cave;
there’s room
behind the rib cage or inside
the breasts.
But now it’s out there!
Batten Down the HatcheS!
Anger is All I ever wanted.
joan cusack handler,
poem