POEM OF THE DAY
Purdah
Amidst the seraglio’s disorder
of satin, silk,
damask and velvet plush,
the odalisque finds repose
in the pomp of her own flesh
piled upon pillows.
She radiates, like a lush pink nova
a splendor of lordosis
by which the eyes only
of the eunuch
or sultan
shall ever go blind
Dana Pattillo
(PoD 33)