obelisks

there was only so much gold and no more diamonds to go around in the kingdom of money so someone got the bright idea to dig some marble out of the side of the world and build the citizens an obelisk, hey they dug that obelisk, those citizens, so they built lots of them, and when it wasn't too cold in the winter they would bundle up and take a stroll downtown and watch people iceskating among the marble obelisks, and when it wasn't too hot in the summer they sat by a fountain and some trees, to catch a seabreeze down by the obelisks, or in the park; but you know how things go, one day a great ape comes into town and looks around and he reaches in among the mahogany trees and the monkey trees and the tamarinds in the park, and just like that he pulls up an obelisk and he takes a bite out of it with his big ugly teeth and then he growls and tosses it aside, tasteless! and he pulls up another and takes a bite out of it, and then another and another; tosses them aside, well! the citizens of the kingdom are in a rage, justifiable of course, and before you know what happens it's open season on anything that looks like apes, i mean shooting everywhere, throughout the kingdom, across the border, and especially overseas, where the great ape came from, until finally everyone in the kingdom of money settles the hell down and comes to their senses and looks around at the damage they've done, and the pain they suffered doing it, and in order to never forget, they put up a marble obelisk.

the quiet wife

it was a nice red ricotta and soft
the best his village had to offer
so he split it into two parts with

his large hands and he held them
open and he offered her one half
well she was shy but willing and

he had encouraged her with gentle
words and confident motions so
after time she took a modest bite

a startled expression grew on her
face then, mixed with a little pain-
she'd bitten down on something hard

what is this she asked him well
he answered her without hesitation
that is your wedding band he said

she did not smile and she did not
frown at that, but after a little while
she looked up at him and straight

back and asked and what is in
your half, husband well when he
looked down at the red ricotta

what did he find? a labyrinth of
sweet impossible intricate cities
and a tiny black spider living quietly

in the heart of each one of them