Let's Get Surreal

Here’s a poem from my chapbook, Baila Conmigo, which was published by Dancing Girl Press last fall. When I wrote this piece, I was inspired by Benjamin Péret’s weird poem “Hello” and its string of incongruous images that somehow work together to make a certain sense.

For Betsy   (after Benjamin Péret)

You are my symphony of stained glass and hot peppered cashews

my bathtub of tainted apricots
my jaguar springing on the tattered dew
my purple blouse with the hand-embroidered itch
my frog in the waterproofed suit
my bottle of coiled perfume
my tortured pearl rising blister-style and on cue
my secret dress trading sequins with the Sphinx
my rush hour tongue probing the chambers of a flaming stew
my needle in the carpet
my hornet in the hog's breath
my candy cigarette dipped in kerosene
my beloved X-ray machine—
your fingertips find every bruise and probe old wounds
then push me, barefoot, onto roiling paths that burn—
and for that I want to say
thank you.


To order Baila Conmigo or to see other titles by Dancing Girl Press, you can click   https://dulcetshop.myshopify.com/products/baila-conmigo-linda-ferguson.