Tom Savage

The Thief of the Heart



The sands of Mecca shape a rose.
The horny unicorn climbs a tree.
They drowned her and carried her away.
But he clasped the rose tree in his right hand.
The Caliph awaits his suitors.
There is no such rank or title.
The moon tips the cypress of proposal our way.
Who calls himself a prince has hunted down
The violinated commandments of the rose.
Seek him our with scimitar-shaped thorns.
A pearl to every guard who fishes on the air.
Through a tigers' tunnel there's a key to seventh heaven.
The rose persists. Turned lilly-white or carnation-red.
Build me an army inside your walls by casting your clothes aside.
At the Cavern of Enchanted Trees
The Valley of Fire sends out smoke signals
On the flying carpet of your tongue
An old man of midnight sees.
At the Abode of the Winged Horse
You can dry off from your fight with that undersea dragon.
If you feed a magic apple to a fisherman, he'll sprout roses.
At the Citadel of the Moon,
We all have but one moment to live.
Out of the clouds comes the courier of the dawn.


-Written while watching The Thief of Bagdad, 1924. Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.




Woman Without Camelias Breathes


If your life is a circus
When is the elephant ballet?

Don't write this line again.
It's already in front of your eyes.

Stars eat their lights out
For the night.

This poem doesn't end here
Whether you like it or not.

The line endings are on strike.
You'll have to invent your own
Enjambments before arrival.

The poem is a young, male lover,
Neither your mistress nor your wife.

This poem is obsessed.
It's author has taken a vacation.

The poem wants you
To make up it's mind.

This poem's double
Refuses to be reborn.

The content insists on
A divorce from its form.
Can you oblige, quickly?

The ink and paper are here.
Just sign them, please.





Tom Savage: I've had eight books published and appeared in many magazines. Ten years ago, while recovering from brain surgery, I committed myself briefly to a mental ward while suffering from involuntary hallucinations partly under the influence of a medication called serzone and partly due to the surgery aftereffects. My poetry has appeared in the New York Times, Hanging Loose, TheWorld, and many other places.



James Garry Christopher Barnes Jennifer Thompson Tom Savage Sam Vaknin Dave Ruslander S. Simpkins Maggie Zhou Maria Claudia Faverio