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Patrick Donnelly

Patrick Donnelly is the author of Nocturnes of the Brothel of Ruin (Four Way Books, 2012), and The Charge (Ausable Press, 2003, since 2009 part of Copper Canyon Press). He is an associate editor of Poetry International, and director of the Poetry Seminar at The Frost Place.

Five Queer Spells Written on Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, during a Time When Many Spells Were Being Inscribed on Unusual Objects

1.
seed of love
     clot of blood
swell & split
             your hard hood

2.
secret germ
     in the seam
let these stones
                   release perfume

3.
to bean & radish
     oak & egg
the bridegroom croons
                   sleepers, awake

4.
pine & maple
     lift their wing,
mid-winter bleak
                    where's your sting?

5.
aren't you able
     to wake the dead? bridegroom,
hurry!—harrow your furrow
     & charge the milky
          way with seed