{"id":524,"date":"2009-10-03T07:23:10","date_gmt":"2009-10-03T12:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/?p=524"},"modified":"2009-10-03T07:23:10","modified_gmt":"2009-10-03T12:23:10","slug":"mark-masland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/2009\/10\/mark-masland\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Masland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Masland:\u00a0 Jobs and Lovers, Evoking Jeanne Moreau<\/em><\/p>\n

Jobs and Lovers<\/strong><\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

I\u2019m cleaning nights at a church
\nof the same religion I was taught
\nby Dad, a modest preacher.
\nI took the job to support
\nmy now exwife, with whom I
\nonce shared a life\u2014at least<\/p>\n

an apartment\u2014but now only
\na dog named Moses. Chaos
\nand the cleansing of toilets
\ngives way to silent hours,
\nweeks, which only more flushing
\nanswer. I pull from the cart<\/p>\n

the trash the last guy left:
\nthe bag swollen with dirty
\nnapkins and banana peels.
\nAt the bottom I notice
\nan empty bottle of vodka
\nand try to recall if it\u2019s mine.<\/p>\n

II<\/p>\n

You knocked on the glass door,
\nlight on blonde hair too angelic\u2014
\na medieval portrait of Mary.
\nI checked locks; you stomped
\nyour cigarette on the stoop.<\/p>\n

Before you left, after dark cinemas
\nand churning bright carousels,
\nyou taught me to put on my shirts
\nfrom the inside out, but I still stretch
\nthem when I pull my arms through.<\/p>\n

III<\/p>\n

After cutting two hours
\nto worship at a Zendo,
\nI rush-clean bathrooms,
\nmop floors, scrub breathless
\nto catch up, but attempt
\nto leave my newfound
\nBuddhist calm intact.<\/p>\n

I cut the lights, but then I
\nremember my jacket, run
\ntrembling to get it from the
\nsupply closet in just this
\nbleach-stained tee-shirt,
\nafraid of the god who<\/p>\n

raised me, or that he\u2019s
\na pretty thought as absent
\nas she is. I drive to my apartment
\nin restless contemplation
\nof salvation that comes with
\nmopping sanctuary floors.<\/p>\n

Evoking Jeanne Moreau
\n<\/strong>
\nShe carries her idols in her pocket
\nlike they\u2019re still here, her mom
\nand sister who died before she\u2019d grown.<\/p>\n

She feels closest to God when
\nshe\u2019s hiding from cops, climbing
\nbuilding walls in Camdentown.<\/p>\n

I asked her to be careful, didn\u2019t
\ntry to slow her down or boss her around,
\nonly keep her from falling too fast.<\/p>\n

But after all, loving is the only thing
\nwe both know as well as breathing,
\nSo we were barely friends before
\nwe slept together. I must admit, I
\nneeded a light and she was a bonfire.<\/p>\n

Safety is not her game, she\u2019d rather
\nstop time and look into my eyes with
\na longing only lovers know, and dress
\nin my tee-shirts and make me chase her
\ndown crowded streets. But she always
\nwaits in dark alleys for long kisses.<\/p>\n

Drunk at midnight, she fancies herself
\nan actress, and she\u2019d rather saunter
\ndown foggy, lamplit streets, smoking
\na cigarette, boyish as Jeanne Moreau,
\nswinging her hips in her white cotton
\ndress\u2014hair dyed red and cropped,
\neyes as vacant like Marilyn Monroe.<\/p>\n

Mark Masland was born in New Jersey. He has a BA in Fiction\/ Creative Writing from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. His work was included in the 2008 edition of the college’s literary magazine, The Tributary. He currently lives in Binghamton, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Masland:\u00a0 Jobs and Lovers, Evoking Jeanne Moreau Jobs and Lovers I I\u2019m cleaning nights at a church of the same religion I was taught by Dad, a modest preacher. I took the job to support my now exwife, with whom I once shared a life\u2014at least an apartment\u2014but now only a dog named Moses. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-october-2009"],"yoast_head":"\nMark Masland - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/2009\/10\/mark-masland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark Masland - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Masland:\u00a0 Jobs and Lovers, Evoking Jeanne Moreau Jobs and Lovers I I\u2019m cleaning nights at a church of the same religion I was taught by Dad, a modest preacher. I took the job to support my now exwife, with whom I once shared a life\u2014at least an apartment\u2014but now only a dog named Moses. 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