Arsenic Lobster poetry journal        Issue Six   2004
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Question and Answers
(after Joseph Stroud)
Catherine A. Michaud

Why did you do it?

Because you got good grades
             and the camera was new

Because the priest’s robe was white
             the wafers bland and stuck
             to the roof of my mouth

Because the wine was ruby and tempting

Because dogs humped on the beach
             the male arched over and pounding,
             into the bitch who just stood with curled lip

Because the sand was drab
             the waves grey

Because the coconut vendors hacked away
             the green rind, the white flesh
             with machetes; they cracked the brown
             fibrous pits like skulls, splashed sticky
             fluid, inserted a straw to drink

Because the coconut was sweet, wet, crunchy,
             lime and chili powder in plastic bags

Because the brains were stirred like cold soup
             with a hooked instrument lodged up the nose
             and poured, pink, on the ground

Because I wanted to say no, but didn’t

Because the tackle box was heavy and you
             always got your way

Because the sun was hot and the house far away

About Catherine A. Michaud

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