Ken Anderson

SERENITY SUITE

         The Sedative

A hypnotist,
I heal invisible wounds. Lavender grows
from my cracked shell.

Lay down your gun.
I won’t hurt you.
Follow my lead.

Swallow me and hear a lullaby,
“Hush, my darling. Sleep.”
 
Again, you curl
to a cherub, suck your thumb.
A homely nursemaid guards your crib’s white cloud.
 
The pendulum stops. All rolled
into one. The eye
of the storm. Patient Job. God.
 

         The Tranquil
 
I have drifted
into a dead calm
in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean. The sun has pressed the wrinkles
from the tide.
 

         The Statue
 
I have assumed a sculptural pose, a monument
to whom I used
to be.

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Ken Anderson: New Poetry from the Festival (an anthology of the 2021/2022 Saints & Sinners winners and finalists) includes four of his poems. His poetry books are The Intense Lover and Permanent Gardens. Gay publications include Angel Rust, Beyond Queer Words, Flux (Fifth Wheel Press), Gay and Lesbian Review, The Heart of Pride (Quillkeepers Press), Mollyhouse, Prismatica, Queerlings, Rabid Oak, RFD, Screen Door, Vagabonds, Warning Lines, Wicked Gay Ways, and Wussy Mag.