The Law of Attraction
BY JESSICA FISCHOFF
Love is the greatest force in the universe.
But where does that leave Aphrodite,
born of sea scum and castration?
She too would plunge if pushed
from the ledge of catastrophe. Gravity
factors the weight of a heart in
its velocity: the speed
with which we rush
the things we think
we need. Easy is the love
of a cyclops — how quickly
one eye fixes, focused
on a single thought— manifestation
birthed in those pools we too often
splash through hunting the clouds
that cast them. I’ve watched
a body float down a river
all current & collection
oceanic pull as one body
devours another.
Gulls war with vultures
over fresh flesh of a corpse dragged
ashore. Feathers are never
enough to share the feast,
and her son, with his span of wings,
craving his mother’s cradle,
could aim arrows
toward the flock
in warning. Or maybe
his eye is elsewhere. His heart about
to leave the room of grief
for a more grateful castle.
So many virgins,
so many beaks pecking
at decaying matter. The finest line
between strong & weak interactions.
After tasting a goddess,
nothing else satisfies.
