The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog
by Alicia Suskin Ostriker
To be blessed
said the old woman
is to live and work
so hard
God’s love
washes right through you
like milk through a cow
To be blessed 
said the dark red tulip
is to knock their eyes out
with the slug of lust
implied by
your up-ended
skirt
To be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other dogs
can smell it
“The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from The Book of Seventy. © University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009.
Blessings to you, my dear readers. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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