Lost Questions
by Alexandre L. Amprimoz

      
      
I.

with those chewed up nails
you fed your fixation

like abandoned ferrets
for so long standing

in their own urine
and excrements

that their paws were burned
ulcerated and bleeding

you long for a nurse
and dream of rabbits


II.

large hard-hitting hands
raised you
without caresses

you chipped more flutes
than a drunk debutante

before graduating
to the art
of breaking bones

you took a bite
out of those who knew
you couldn’t scratch

and confident
they didn’t see it coming
your punch line

what used to be nostalgia
turned to obsession


III.

I was to understand
this lesbian thing

but this is the legion
said the captain
lost in his bavarian accent

there is no point
in asking for what is hidden

for what is foreign
defines us

we are sharp shooters
we drink together
and that is all


IV.

dandelions
but did anyone

ask how
chamomile

settled in the eye
of the blind beggar

in the hollowness
of his stretched out palm

my visionary uncle
what did he have to offer


V.

my visionary uncle
what did he have to offer

since the punctuation factory
moved to mexico

where the demand is higher
and two marks are required

for a single question


VI.

weather-beaten
they hold sundials

in front of them
like sleepy waiters

hold a tray
these angels

with a smile
locked in stone

this is a world
of mirrored images

hung in transposed space
and you long for the visit

of an old friend
but the lukewarm caress

of a lamp is all you get


VII.

why did you not
lift a painted finger

gabriel and why
did you not answer me

when I called to you
my brother was crying

his collapsed colon
in the turkish toilets

of the christian brothers
I had to push it back in

for god sake gabriel
he was eight

and I was seven

Alexandre Amprimoz is a poet, critic, translator, writer and programmer. He teaches Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Books include: A Season For Birds: Selected poems by Pierre Morency. Translation. Toronto: Exile Press, 1990; Venice At Her Mirror: Essays by Robert Marteau. Translation. Toronto: Exile Press, 1990; Nostalgies de l'ange. Ottawa: Editions du Vermillon, 1993. He has recently published poems in: The Antigonish Review, Velvet Illusion, Octavo, DMQ, Poet's Canvas, Dégaine ta rime, Résurrétion, Hélices and LittéRéalité, Triplopia, Sidereality, etc. He has been nominated for the Push Cart Prize several times.