The Seven Deadly Sins

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

AVARICE

They say Midas
died a ruined man—
you can't eat gold,
gold can't keep you warm.
But that's just
allegory, and anyway
times have
changed. Give me
that touch.
I'll take my chances.

PRIDE

I have swallowed it
and swallowed it,
but I am like the Whale,
I can feel my Jonah
down there, waiting.
When I spit him out
everyone
will take notice.

GLUTTONY

As I finish lunch
I am thinking about
what I will eat
for dinner, so
if I give you
the smaller portion
of dessert, it is only
because I am
preoccupied. Here
let's cover it
with cream.

LUST

There is a candle lit
between my thighs.
Come, blow it out,
you with the down
so new on your face
it could be a girl's,
though I saw the muscles quicken
under your shirt,
as my pulse
quickened when
you lifted the groceries
into my car.

SLOTH

The indolent sloth
had three toes
on each front foot,
a small mammal, slow moving
and from …
South America.
Since you ask,
I would tell you which country,
but I am too tired
to look it up.

ENVY

There was a green
silk scarf with gold
around the edges
that matched
my cousin's green eyes
flecked with gold.
Mother said mine
were pure merino wool.
Mother said never mind,
boys would want to marry
girls like me.

ANGER

You tell me
that it's alright
to let it out of its cage,
though it may claw someone,
even bite.
You say that letting it out
may tame it somehow.
But loose, it may
turn on me, maul
my face, draw blood.
Ah, you think you know so much,
you whose anger is a pet dog,
its canines dull with disuse.
But mine is a rabid thing,
sharpening its teeth
on my very bones,
and I will never let it go.

Linda Pastan A Fraction of Darkness
Norton, 1985