Sunday Service

Kendra Grant Malone Poem

All The Ways I Have Failed You

1.
finding him under the piano
was not the most alarming part of
the day, that day
finding his waifish
six year old body
in my underwear and
costume jewelry was not
the most alarming part
either
what worried us all the most
was his inability
to pronounce the syllables
that didn’t really
exist anyways

2.
various things are real
the cloak he wears while
walking down lake street
the antipsychotic pills
i’ve seen them,
they are pink
his inch long finger nails
humming birds that move very
fast, yes we saw that together
your arch angels
the ones that tell you
that you are beautiful
okay okay
yes I will always believe you
they are real
and that time you
stabbed me
hysterical
screaming in tongues
that was real too

3.
hey juan?
where is zack?
did you leave him
in the courthouse
again?
but its christmas!
he needs to be here
for christmas
so we can
sit in front
of the fire
and build the alamo
together one more time

4.
the rainbow wallpaper
was mine
but we all knew
that all the rainbows
made of light
belonged to you
everyone could see it
especially father
because the secret
was hiding in your teeth

Kendra Grant Malone lives in Brooklyn with her cat Delores Grant Malone. She has been widely published in web and print magazines and has an assortment of e-books and chapbooks including Conor Oberst Sex, Rape Children, and Love Your Friends And Not Your Lovers. You can go to her website, www.kendralovely.blogspot.com, to read more about her, her cat and her work.

January 10th, 2010 / 3:03 pm
Sunday Service

33 Comments

  1. Catherine Lacey

      the best.

  2. Catherine Lacey

      the best.

  3. mike young

      hurrah! these are good. there are more where these came from, kgm fans. there are definitely more.

  4. mike young

      hurrah! these are good. there are more where these came from, kgm fans. there are definitely more.

  5. Matthias Rascher

      The power of poetry.

  6. Matthias Rascher

      The power of poetry.

  7. Michael Schaub

      Unbelievable. She keeps getting better. It’s kind of scary.

  8. Michael Schaub

      Unbelievable. She keeps getting better. It’s kind of scary.

  9. scott mcclanahan

      This is great.

  10. scott mcclanahan

      This is great.

  11. Roxane

      Love the title, love all that follows.

  12. Roxane

      Love the title, love all that follows.

  13. Sean

      go KGM!

  14. Sean

      go KGM!

  15. Lily

      three cheers for kendra

  16. Lily

      three cheers for kendra

  17. alec niedenthal

      So fucking good.

  18. alec niedenthal

      So fucking good.

  19. james yeh

      yeah, these are sweet

  20. james yeh

      yeah, these are sweet

  21. DJ Berndt

      Yes yes good.

  22. DJ Berndt

      Yes yes good.

  23. elizabeth ellen

      love, love, love, love.

  24. elizabeth ellen

      love, love, love, love.

  25. tomk

      pretty damn awesome.

  26. tomk

      pretty damn awesome.

  27. Jason

      Typo: “but its christmas!”

  28. Jason

      Typo: “but its christmas!”

  29. PANK Blog / What Moves Me

      […] could go on and on and on and on and on and on and oh hell, […]

  30. HTMLGIANT / 333

      […] Alison Malone, sister of Giantfriend Kendra Grant Malone, makes awesome portraits of […]

  31. HTMLGIANT / Everything Is Quietly Descriptive Love

      […] or together in a hardcover edition, which is pretty fancy for indie lit, right? Click here and here for sample poems from Malone and here and here for Savoca poems. These are sure to both be tender […]

  32. Vauban

      Love fest!

  33. Guest

      Love fest!