the poetry knook, the poetry of stephen m. james

Joined at the head

Here I am–craniopagus twins
juxtaposing Heaven and Hell
slice me down the center
like the sowers of discord,1
sever the cords binding me
to me like in Purgatory
for I’ve tried to carve a wedge,
in my head, but my ears are gangrene,
from the burrowing and shoveling
of this gray matter, and what’s sadder is
28 surgeons couldn’t separate me
with a diamond scythe
and neither can death.
Only one can
1In Dante’s Inferno, sowers of discord (Circle VIII) were sliced in half by demons and ran around in a circle for just enough to heal back before being sliced again


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© 1993-2026 by Stephen M. James.