Stay Put

Anoint me with honey
all the honey the bees can find
from pavement flowers.

Anoint me, coat me, cover me, mask me
let golden paint flow through the thickened
folds of my puckered sadness, drip from my
nightmared skull.

Pour molten gold into tubes that listen
halt the drum-beat screams,
sugar-coat my rasping voice.

Soften my rough fingers to feel the skin
of an absent lover, smear unction
gently to my nostrils

to soothe my breathing, the entrance to
where the scars dwell deep.