Encyclopedia of the Unseen

Pamela Miller

A is for Athena biding her time in Zeus' dome
B is for the black spot lurking in your breast,
   awaiting the Columbus of your fingers
C is for Joan Crawford in Heaven, ensconced in a limousine of clouds
D is for Death's job application, filed away in a drawer in our guts
E is for the evaporated hair of elderly water sprites
F is for the Frank family, huddled in the attic of evil
G is for God's twin sister, who wandered off at birth
H is for Jimmy Hoffa, barking orders from his bed beneath the turnpike
I is for the invisible ink of unsent blackmail letters
J is for Judge Crater
K is for the kabuki dance of souls escaping from bodies
L is for lost Atlantis with its empty streets of salt
   and its nightclubs where phantoms canoodle
M is for Miss Microscopic America, amoebic beauty queen
N is for nothing
O is for the onions of doubt taking root in the mind's back forty
P is for the Prince of Amnesia, whom no one remembers seeing
Q is for the quiet little room at the top of the tornado's raging staircase
R is for the radiation of Chernobyl, draping its withered limbs
   across the planet
S is for the smallest aspidistra in the world, sprouting shyly from the head of a pin
T is for the torsos of icebergs
U is for the underwear of ghosts
V is for the very last digit of pi, under wraps in a cubbyhole in Chinatown
W is for the welcoming committee in Davy Jones's locker
X is for the x-rays of summer's broken back
   discarded in the wastebin of winter
Y was for you when I needed you
Z is for Zeus in the mood for love,
   biding his thunderous time inside a swan