Peter Marra - Two Poems

A Transmitter

she threw herself
into becoming normal
she was making progress
the cards were rotated and shuffled
then the schedule changed

She had a burning desire
for the Rorschach test

the pleading
eyes followed her slowly
as if the mirror
that held them
had splintered

a crack in the air

she spit on the
10 official inkblots
a crucifix rotated and slammed
to the ground as she stared

a baby cried in a stroller at the
feet of the St. Francis statue
candle flames quivered

as she manicured her nails
she smiled about exorcisms
at the botanica
that was located on E 3rd St

we met as she stood
among the blossoms
for the next few years

she told me that the inkblots
triggered a response
that she wasn’t ready for

and we weren’t ready
for the ambiguous
designs

it was a day and
it was enough

“such a lovely beast”

for an experiment
for a parasite
for a predator



A Terror of Spring

hospital:
a long walk down the hallway
mildew spirals / slight sounds
a murmur from behind
we heard the whirring

they rolled her on the linoleum floor
while they slammed the doors shut
a generator of dreams
a machine of tremors

she wondered
what he was like as a child
and how he had progressed
to this condition

afterwards:
a drive into suburbia
slow sounds / dusty eyes
we watched as they went home
the doors closed

a season cold sting venom

a terror of spring
the tingling fear after 2 pm.
warm air scares / the afternoon sun kills.

cough it up and fling it at the moon
remove the shadows and hang them up
try it once and we'll see
outlaws against nature

what they promised us, they took back.



Peter Marra is from Williamsburg Brooklyn. Born in Brooklyn, he lived in the East Village, New York from 1979-1987 at the height of punk – no wave. Peter has had a lifelong fascination with Surrealism, Dadaism, and Symbolism.