________Not just one. She’s studded with them. So’s her throne.
________Her throne, all silk and red. Split open. And some would say apples
________but maybe it’s really this fruit that she’s bound to with string—
________five strings. One for each finger. Five fruits. And something that bleeds
________not just onto the page, as she slits the plump seeds, and stares at the art
________deco sketch of a nymph eating seeds, but that bleeds
________more and more—more than it should, from within, staining
________the several grades and softnesses and thicknesses of paper,
________wadded inside and out, and cloth that she wears on her body
________and sheets (though she tries to relinquish, to wash out
________the stain)