Connie Deanovich

     is the recipient of a Whiting Writer's Award and a GE Award for Younger Writers. She is the author of Zombie Jet (Zoland Books), Watusi Titanic (Timken), and has work in several anthologies. Formerly of Chicago, she now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

connie photo

from THE SPOTTED MOON

  1. justice bongos emit
    patterns of decision
    into the air

    and wide-opened orchids
    show colorfully that
    sex is common

    essentially the invalid
    tiger is only
    lame for cameras

    the explorers continue
    laughing at eczema
    toting canned chicken

    the spears shine
    despite history and
    cool the tongue

    a woman's lover
    enjoys refreshments in
    a loin cloth

    there are eyes
    and ears and
    toes and tails

    the sky darkening
    can qualify as
    grand scale wisdom

    practically bird song
    her thoughts succumb
    to the wind

    these four travelers
    one you know
    starch their linen

    first they boiled
    water then they
    added the antiques

    suppression is half
    of mental recollection
    a beautiful door

    starting south the
    little phrase is
    vulgar yet funny

    any joke on
    rhinestone legs arrives
    with parted lips

    the kisses derived
    from mental torpor
    offer many cures

    big wide hair
    that's bleached blonde
    reduces guess work

    get a beer
    deck of cards
    money and missionaries

    marry in orange
    with the cheekbones
    of a sentinel

    suspicious of ants
    pink flowers and
    women as priests

    pray with water
    a heavenly lubricant
    surrounding the globe

    chastisement works best
    at night with
    a strong flashlight


        •     •     •     •     •

THE FRONTIER AND THE BACH FRONTIER

rose           petals dipped in           sugar other social concerns

a dark mobile           for           a bad           baby healthy as a carrotathon

the dork-mobile’s in the driveway now           lingering           like an

assumption of crime           wave from the doorway           limp laughter in

the snow           March ripening           like an Elizabethan banquet

festivities like an hourglass           bible verses and fetishes           digital hourglass digital

pomp and digital           circumstances stand           vigorous as melody

Bach troubles           one-way ticket out of music school

brown leather           jungle aroma on the fingertips

the three ancient schools’           notable pupils           but early Bach’s

salary           His duties there           His competition with

agreement and disagreement           David’s love for           itself a thing to

love lies bleeding           like a fuchsia rope of petals around

the tattoo Fabio           some regrets must be chiseled away

up to 10-gauge wire using           only the teeth