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The Hermit Has a Visitor
Maxine Kumin
Once he puts out the light
moth wings on the window screen slow
and drop away like film lapping the spool
after the home movie runs out.
He lies curled like a lima bean
still holding back its cotyledon.
Night is a honeycomb.
Night is the fur on a blue plum.
And then she sings. She raises the juice.
She is a needle, he the cloth.
She is an A string, he the rosewood.
She is the thin whine at concert pitch.
She has the eggs and he the blood
and after she is a small
red stain on the wall
he will itch.
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