Poem of the Day

[nessus (Doug Alan)]

THE TAKERS (by Sharon Olds)

Hitler entered Paris the way my
sister entered my room at night,
sat astride me, squeezed me with her knees,
held her thumbnails to the skin of my wrists and
peed on me, knowing Mother would
never believe my story.  It was very
silent, her dim face above me
gleaming in the shadows, the dark gold
smell of urine spreading through the room, its
heat boiling on my legs, my small
pelvis wet.  When the hissing stopped, when the
hole had been scorched in my body, I lay
crisp and charred with shame and felt her
skin glitter in the air, her dark
gold pleasure unfold as he stood over
Napoleon's tomb and murmered *This is the
finest moment of my life*.