I write with a quill pen
Pulled from the backside of
A male cross-eyed porcupine
Who has known love only
Once. The pen is dipped in
An elixir, sublime and notorious
For its pigments processed
From the milk of the female
Green-spotted octopus. The
Only paper that I use is
Carolinian tan, produced by
A family of Cuban immigrants
Who harvest reeds on the Outer
Banks and bake their smooth
Sheets on the dunes of Kitty Hawk.

(2009)