Ave

O lost moon sisters
crescent in hair, sea underfoot do you wander
in blue veil, in green leaf, in tattered shawl do you wander
with goldleaf skin, with flaming hair do you wander
on Avenue A, on Bleecker Street do you wander
on Rampart Street, on Fillmore Street do you wander
with flower wreath, with jeweled breath do you wander

       footprints
	     shining mother of pearl
			  behind you

       moonstone eyes
	    in which the crescent moon

with gloves, with hat, in rags, in fur, in beads
under the waning moon, hair streaming in black rain
wailing with stray dogs, hissing in doorways
shadows you are, that fall on the crossroads, highways


jaywalking do you wander
spitting do you wander
mumbling and crying do you wander
aged and talking to yourselves
with roving eyes do you wander
hot for quick love do you wander
weeping your dead

		naked you walk
		swathed in long robes you walk
		swaddled in death shroud you walk
		backwards you walk

			        hungry
			        hungry
			        hungry

		shrieking I hear you
		singing I hear you
		cursing I hear you
		praying I hear you

you lie with the unicorn
you lie with the cobra
you lie in the dry grass
you lie with the yeti
you flick long cocks of satyrs with your tongue

       you are armed
       you drive chariots
       you tower above me
       you are small
       you cower on hillsides
       out of the winds

pregnant you wander
barefoot you wander
battered by drunk men you wander

      you kill on steel tables
      you birth in black beds
	      fetus you tore out stiffens in snow
      it rises like new moon
      you moan in your sleep

digging for yams you wander
looking for dope you wander
playing with birds you wander
chipping at stone you wander


I walk the long night seeking you
I climb the sea crest seeking you
I lie on the prairie, batter at stone gates
calling your names

you are coral
you are lapis and turquoise
your brain curls like shell
you dance on hills

       hard-substance-woman you whirl
       you dance on subways
       you sprawl in tenements
       children lick at your tits

you are the hills, the shape and color of mesa
you are the tent, the lodge of skins, the hogan
the buffalo robes, the quilt, the knitted afghan
you are the cauldron and the evening star
you rise over the sea, you ride the dark

I move within you, light the evening fire
I dip my hand in you and eat your flesh
you are my mirror image and my sister
you disappear like smoke on misty hills
you lead me thru dream forest on horseback
large gypsy mother, I lean my head on your back

I am you
and I must become you
I have been you
and I must become you
I am always you
I must become you

       ay-a
       ay-a ah
       ay-a
       ay-a ah ah
       maya ma maya ma
       om star mother ma om
       maya ma ah

						- Diane di Prima