1. Hole in the eye

When she hears his father's accent she learns
what he suppressed. He sees in her mother's hallway
the décor she hates. Between them, a balance
scale weighted MOTHER FATHER YOU ME
--the loads shifting image by image.
A mother left in the car.
The father's bottom teeth.
And the small deductions--yearbook photos,
hidden cigarettes, names said dreaming;
his taste, the pills sent from home--
  As if a sailor squinted for land so long
the sun burned holes in his eyes;
standing at the door, he jerks his head
this way and that just to see it sidelong ...

2. The shuttle

Lover and beloved.
  Who carries the most desire?

Better to ask who eats the apple,
  the pig or the family roasting it--

Or ask the two woodsmen
  on the shuttle toy

chopping the wood they're made of;
  or the samurai and geisha

pumping mechanically--a perfect fit--
  cock and cunt sliced from one stone.