Feast of Façade, by Leslie Ferguson

Feast of Façade
 
Casa Batlló,
with your
dot-matrix pastels 
& your pirate 
hat of rainbow fish scales
 
& your skeleton-face 
balconettes
orbital slats
of iron through
which I dream to see
 
& your shark-snout-
trio terrace,
 
may I swim
the world through your 
teeth
 
join the masquerade 
pulsing behind
your wavy walls
 
I want to climb 
your body like a vine
traverse the façade 
 
peel back
its garden-mottled skin
crack open its bones
 
& slide inside
 
breathe the brain
that turned the century
& your rooms
wild
 
you are only a house
but may I 
 
caress your soul
rest my head on your chest
eat the beat of your heart
 
I want to swallow your ocean
of current & light
 
drink your dream of madness
as if it were my own

Leslie Ferguson

Leslie Ferguson resides in San Diego, California, with one husband, two cats, and good whiskey. She obtained her MFA in Creative Writing from Chapman University. Leslie’s work has been published in fws: journal of literature and art, Coffin Bell, and several anthologies and is forthcoming in Tiny Spoon this year. She has also recently completed a memoir. Her writing centers on love, loss, and the consequences of trauma. For more, visit her blog at www.MentallyWellish.com.