Confessional Poem

      Self-portrait with map.
      Self-portrait with airline tray, 30,000 feet over cloud.
      Self-portrait in kimono.
      Self-portrait beside peppermint geranium.
      Self-portrait holding lover’s erection.
      Self-portrait during breast cancer examination.
      Self-portrait dressing.
      Self-portrait as artist’s mother.
      Self-portrait with mop.
      Self-portrait as typist.
      Self-portrait as learner driver.
      Self-portrait as cabinet of small ceramic figurines.
      Self-portrait as eleven-year-old learning the word rape.
      Self-portrait as transvestite (smoking jacket, silk cravat: artist’s model’s own).
      Self-portrait as sleeping form, street doorway.
      Self-portrait as torn, stained subway poster.
      Self-portrait as half of couple considering children.
      Self-portrait in DNA (blood, saliva, hair, cuticles).
      Self-portrait, mug shot, file on missing person.

from How to Make a Million (Auckland: Godwit, Random House, 2002)