All My Quick Sisters by Matt Dennison

Sufficient Naked Beauty by Holger Writh

All my quick sisters, their sex wheels
spinning madly, thrashing to break free,
stand before me, mournful eyes imploring
my touch to still their racing wounds.
For only I can cure them, settle the clattering
wheels back into their slots, tighten the ropes,
align the balance, then throw the switch once more.
See how they hum! But only if their malady
draws out my healing key, else I am powerless,
mute before their pitiful writhings, and they hate me. 
But when the cure takes hold—how they cling to me! 
Then, bellies full, they lie back, softly calling my name
as from a dream. And when I am no longer entranced
by their strange, unpleasant fates—how they cling
to each other! And wait.

*****

Matt Dennison is the author of Kind Surgery, from Urtica Press (Fr.) His work has appeared in Rattle, Bayou Magazine, Redivider, Natural Bridge, The Spoon River Poetry Review and Cider Press Review, among others. He has also made short films with Michael Dickes, Swoon, Marie Craven and Jutta Pryor.