Recorded by the author on July 26, 2024 at The Mark Twain House & Museum
After The Woman of the Apocalypse by Gustave Dore
Though the thrashing sea threatens
it will not
meet
motherly iron arms
or innocent tear-stained cheeks
Still the serpents swim and do not
cease
their endless hiss violent
bite-like kiss like
all-blood-and-bone-no-mercy teeth
Mother stands on struck stone
against coal-black
sky
winged bodies armed in flight
fight for Mother and Child’s life maybe
they were all always our angels—