Opening

Marilyn Buck

1989

i

I have at last penetrated my ambiguity
to expose the richly raw fabric
not sure if I have lost my cloak
I bare the flesh of my need

ii

I ask: am I ready to surrender the stiletto of fear
which limns embroidered damask from assertion and assurance
raw silken waves: transitory touchings
seek the underlying weave
that threatens to
unravel ten thousand intricacies?

iii

need threatens me in its commonness
can I be so brave to wear simplicity before you?

iv

so many touchings to tell you
I weave words to catch you
in their patterns of seeming insignificance

November 1989

This poem appeared in
On Self Censorship, 1989