Gena Schwam, _Deconstructing Mary

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Deconstructing Mary
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I saw them hang you up
Steel crane prayers lifting you skyward
Rain drenching your halo and
Weatherproof acrylic hair
Your son a noseless bundle in your 2-D arms

I laughed as I walked past the Bon Marché
Your resting place for the holiday
Perched on a narrow wall you blessed
Lunch-walkers and city joggers
Street kids asking for change
You cast your wooden eyes on us
Majestic in consumer Heaven

Did you shop alone at night, secretly
Floating away from the wall and through the glass
Sifting through silk and lingerie
Did you talk to yourself
Did you cry to yourself
Did the tears hit your plywood face
Like beads of rain on plastic

The New Year came and went
The snow lining your mandala
Cracked your synthetic skin
Fell away in shreds and icicles
With the tinsel from the trees

I crossed the street at noon
And saw your body in 3 pieces
The men with the steel crane released you
From your frozen ecstasy
Cut you into boards
Your head hung dangerously close to the ground
I stifled my laughter as you swayed above the masses
Your son packed in a truck in one small piece
Disassembled

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Gena Schwam
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Next in ring: ...two poems in this room by Padma Jared Thornlyre...
Back to room: Canadian Central Pacific Coast, a Fjord
Back to AgD: Return to Agnieszka's Dowry Welcoming Room