Joe Dolce:

Evil Eye                                                                                                                        

For a man to fear the gay male gaze, is to fear the Evil Eye or, rather, the Evil Not-I, the dissolution of self in narcissistic looking. 

—Ellis Hanson

Great-great-great grandmother of Lacan’s Anxious Gaze,

Mulvey’s Male Gaze and the Nosferatu Predatory Gaze,

known in every culture—the Curse

cast by a malevolent stare.

Referred to in Plato, Plutarch and Pliny.

Traditional tribal wariness of those with green, or blue, eyes.

In Italy, Jettatore, high arching brows, a fixed look

that leaps from black sockets.

(Pius IV was known for his.)

Mak Pilau, in Hawaiian, rotten eyes, a ghost.

In Brazil, Olho Gordo, fat eye.

In Somali, Qumayo, envy eye.

Mal de Ojo, in Spain—the traditional cure:

a raw chicken egg, broken into a glass of water,

placed under the bed, if the yolk appears

cooked, the patient recovers.

Nazar, in Islam. Reading the last three chapters

of the Koran will ward it off, or a small black cloth, hung

from the bumper of your truck.

Often mistaken for the thousand-yard stare of battle-weary soldiers.

Also known as Stink Eye, Skunk Eye,

the Hairy Eyeball.

Joe Dolce

Robin Hood Roulette

I shot an arrow into the air.

—Longfellow

When I was thirteen,

my brother, eleven,

and I would take my bow,

and metal-tipped arrows,

to the local track oval,

to play one of our secret

dangerous games.

Launching a shaft

straight up, until

we lost sight of it,

having no idea where

it would land,

no place to shelter,

blessedly free,

we zig-zagged and screamed,

ecstatically terrified, surrendering

to our hurtling feathered fate.

Joe Dolce