<span>Dr. Bello’s belly button blossoms breath and blithe,</span>
<span>The swing it sends across my heart slashes as a scythe.</span>
<span>His navel knows nothing more than nothing short of none,</span>
<span>And drives a dent in dauntless doves that dance below the sun.</span>
<span>His cleanly kept cavity corrodes chemistry of heart;</span>
<span>His tummy trench contests treasure troves and museums full of art.</span>
<span>And the hairs above the belly hole that guard the naval’s glisten</span>
<span>Sing their serenade to anyone who’s there to listen.</span>
<span>His stomach crater flees furtively for fate that’s far from view,</span>
<span>But those who are blessed to see it claim it difracts every hue.</span>
<span>So when he gives his lectures, of which he has quite many,</span>
<span>I only have one thought in mind一is it an outie or an innie?</span>
* * *
by Ian Benway
Fall of 2018