Swizzle Stick

my savage breasts

my savage breasts
are soothed by tunes
whose scales
flutter like birds
whose notes
pivot like novels
whose melodies
lift & separate
whose rhythms
hold & beat

yes music soothes
my savage breasts
retracts their claws
drops their arms
& caps their teeth

tigers in their pen
still furious
with Mozart
the lions in bad temper
in spite of Bach
bound bears deaf
to Beethoven calm

but music soothes
my savage breasts
while caged suppressed
in public space

soothed they are
by shoe-gaze swing
bent edge becalming
be-bop cheered up
with a hot cha-cha-cha
a jazz-joyous pop pop

comforted unburdened
my once-were-savage breasts