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The Color of Poison copyright 1991 by Serena Fusek

Poet Bio
     Serena Fusek

Sample Poems
    Away         Tip         Sand the Color of Poison




Poet Bio

Serena Fusek photo by Cydonia Fusek

Serena Fusek lives in Newport News, Virginia with her husband and a house full of cats. She has published poems in Poet Lore, rawbone, River Rat Review, Artemis, Reflect, The Poetry Society of Virginia Anthology, Psychological Perspectives—The Magazine of the Jungian Institute, and others. In 1987, she published an eight-poem chapbook entitled 3 in the morning song. Currently, she is poetry editor for Proof Rock magazine. Other interests include a passion for irises, motorcycles, mystery novels, and the blues.

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Poetry

Away

We rip up the road
cut a scream through the
air winter trees slash
black veins into a coal
ash sky   back in the
mountains mama weeps
but not hard   she's
too tired   daddy coughs
black dirt from his lungs
his back pit twisted
retired now and out of
the ground but he'll
return soon and the
pit itself played out
as his heart.
We whip down the
highway   running for
the city for glitter.
I'm fifteen   in my
bag five bright lipsticks
and black net stockings.
Copyright ©1991 Serena Fusek


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Tip

Dressed like a Carmen
Miranda tramp
even ankle strap
heels I work the three-
piece suiter at the
bar.   His wallet is
exotic reptile
his watch so pricey
he might as well strap
a thousand dollar
bill to his wrist.   I
gaze into his
colorless eyes   lean
close so he can smell
my perfume   peer down
my blouse.   He can't see
how goofy his aging
face looks—all the blood
drains from his brain to
swell his tailored
trousers.   I brush his
knee below the bulge
set the hook.   I won't
worry about the
rent this month.   When we
leave I palm the tip
he leaves for two drinks
tomorrow I'll eat
three squares.
Copyright ©1991 Serena Fusek


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Sand the Color of Poison

in the adobe motel
my heart beats like a
drum on fire my body
is smoke that melts into you
the sky is a hungry
mouth that howls the blues through
coyote's throat   stars scream
as they fall to sands the
color of poison and
on the walls our shadows
twine and writhe like two
sidewinders dancing to
the death.
Copyright ©1991 Serena Fusek


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