Gown torn, slippers lost
stranded on the LIE
fairy godmother of punk
waves her magic crucifix.

Cinder takes the stage
with Patti at CBGBs
holyholyholy communion
they parse the ghost.

The suppliant kneels
the priestess anoints her progeny
serves the sacraments
gloryglorygloria.

The blessed child rises
tears off the veil
presses electric bass
from breast to hip and wails.

DEBORAH HAUSER is the author of Ennui: From the Diagnostic and Statistical Field Guide of Feminine Disorders(Finishing Line Press). Her poems and book reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Ms. Magazine, Women’s Review of Books, The Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Bellevue Literary Review, and Calyx. She is the Poet Laureate of Suffolk County, NY.