For a friend
I am the spider
Capturing shadows
Weaving this web
To let the light
Dance
I am the harvest
moon That allows you
To read
A midnight
Poem
I am the autumn wind
Whooshing cold
Bringing you greetings
From blankets and fireplaces
I am that tiny ball of cotton
From your grandmother’s quilt
Which tickles
Your nose
I am the pepper
In your soup
The garlic
In your sauce
The taste in your mouth
When you are tired
I am a match
Light me
You need to change
How you look
At things
YOUR SHOWER
I wish I could be
Your shower
I would bubble
Your hair
Tickle my way
Down to your lips
Across your shoulders
And over your back
Around your waist
Bouncing off your knees
Fall to the tips
Of your toes
Then journey back
Again
Warm Wet
Sticky Sweet
Up and Down
Around and Around
Around and Around
Around and Around
Until
There is
No more hot
Water
GOOD NIGHT
It is late
I stand
In front of your desk
Saying something inane
You fiddle with papers
Not looking at anything
Work is over yet
We stay
I smile
You are, after all, very cute
We leave the building
Casually
Like it doesn’t matter
There is a beautiful moon
We say Good Night
I unhurriedly stroll to my car
Humming some 1950s love song
I speed-limit home
to
Walk my dog
Give fresh water to the birdbaths
Eat my dinner
Choose my clothes for tomorrow
Set the coffee timer
Slide between my bamboo sheets
And dream
Of you
MY SLEEP
I appreciate my sleep
In sleep my conversation
is witty
My home is dusted
My office work
is up to date
The dog
is even
well behaved
And food is on the table
on time
But then
when I’m asleep
I don’t have you
to clutter and confuse
My hungry heart
BICYCLES
Midnight poems are bicycles
Taking us on safer journeys
Than jets
Quicker journeys
Than walking
But never as beautiful
A journey
As my back
Touching you under the quilt
Midnight poems
Sing a sweet song
Saying everything
Is all right
Everything
Is
Here for us
I reach out
To catch the laughter
The dog thinks
I need a kiss
Bicycles move
With the flow
Of the earth
Like a cloud
So quiet
In the October sky
Like licking ice cream
From a cone
Like knowing you
Will always
Be there
All day long I wait
For the sunset
The first star
The moon rise
I move
To a midnight
Poem
Called
You
Propping
Against
The dangers
I LIKE THE DANCE
I like the dance
I like the idea
of you in my arms
I like the gentle sway
I like the dance
I like your sweat
on my cheek
I like the way you breathe
Look at me
Look at me
I like the way I feel
in your arms
I WOULD NOT BE DIFFERENT
Every now and then
We all fall in love
With a totally inappropriate
Person
And I would not be different
You sort of see someone
And you don’t want to notice
That ring on his finger
Nor really that sort of happy
Look in his eyes
You do however know
Immediately
How wonderful it would be
To fall into those arms
To nuzzle the hairs
Of his underarms
To rub your cold feet
Against those thighs
You do want to know
What the water would feel like
As it caresses you two
In a rainbow shower
The soapy suds swirling around
As you kiss and kiss and kiss
You do want to know
How he takes his eggs
Whether his toast should be buttered
On both sides
If he drinks decaf or regular
But he is a totally inappropriate person
And all the world knows
This cannot work
Yet all the world would think
If they could see him
“I want to be in love with that”
And I would not be different
GIVE IT A GO?
I like to polish
Silver
Rub the paste in
Let it set
Then shine shine shine
Even as a little girl
I loved to wash
Grandmother’s crystal
Watch the light bounce
Off the edges
Of the glasses
We were taught
Never to use clear
Fingernail polish
But to trim our nails
To a respectable length
And buff them
With lamb’s wool
I wipe my bathroom
Mirror after each shower
And always shine my faucet
In order to properly care for things
They must be loved
And touched
Want to give it
A go?
ANOTHER DAY (REVISITED)
Librarians do it
but they do it by the book
Fishermen do it
’cause they have a special hook
Opticians do it
and they love to take a look
Zorro does it
’cause he’s a special crook
Three-ring circuses
do it for the clowns
Football players
do it on first downs
Swimmers do it
’cause they know they will not drown
Prince does it
’cause he likes to go down
Chefs do it
and they like to use the spices
Bakers do it
with all the bread that slices
Butchers never do it
on the job
Persnickety folk
never do it with a slob
Weather persons…in any clime
Poets do but only in good rhyme
My Mama said No but my Daddy doesn’t care
And I really kind of like that thing you play with
in my hair
I do it ’cause you really stole my heart
You do it ’cause that’s the natural part
We do it ’cause we’re curious
and
We do it
just for fun
But when you did it to me right
my heart became undone
And now you have to do it
’Cause there is no other one
Who can do me who can do me who
can do me
Like you done
Yesterday has left us
Tomorrow may not be
There’s no reason to be scared
’cause you’re safe with me
’Cause you’re safe with me
’Cause you’re safe with me
CHRISTMAS LAUGHTER
My family is very small
Eleven of us
Three are over 80
Three are over 60
Three are over 50
Two of us are sons
Come Labor Day the quilts
are taken from the clean white sheets
in which they summered
We seldom have reason
and need no excuse
to polish the good silver
wash the tall stemmed glasses
and invite one another
into our homes
We win at Bid Whist
and lose at Canasta
and eat the lightest miniature Parker House rolls
and the world’s best
five-cheese macaroni and cheese
I grill the meat
Mommy boils the beans
Come first snow the apple cider
with nutmeg…cloves…cinnamon…
and just a hint of ginger
brews every game day and night
We have no problem
luring
Santa Claus
down
our chimney
He can’t resist
The laughter
I WANT A SHOE
I want a shoe named for me
The Giovanni
It will make you think of a plot
Type it out faster
And get a cover letter
Quicker
Than you can say “Jack Robinson”
I want a shoe
That will let me float
Down the red carpet
To the cheers of an adoring crowd
High-tops with red strings
Something fashionable
Yet humble
I need a shoe named for me
That keeps my feet at an even 72 degrees
And also oils my heels
And trims my toenails
It shouldn’t cost too much
Because I am
After all
Just a poet
Thinking way outside
The box
And…
Oh yeah…
I need dimples
too
A DRUNKEN PHONE CALL
A drunken phone call
From a middle-aged woman
In the middle of the night
After SportsCenter
Reminds me
That life is short
And cold
And mean
And maybe I should
Have called you
Like I said
I would
A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOU
I’m a fan of Christopher Columbus
I want to find a spice route too
They’ve got a substitute for sugar
I want a substitute for you
I’m gonna ride those trade winds
Find gold in El Dorado too
They’ve got MasterCards for money
I need a substitute for you
My feet at night
Are so cold
I tell you they’re turning blue
They have a substitute for coal oil
I’ll buy a substitute for you
Some things are real though most things
Really don’t be true
They got a substitute for the truth
But a lie right now won’t do
You let me think you loved me
Luckily I can’t sue
With work and play we drifted
I’m requesting something new
I’m not saying
This is nice
There’s a crack
That love fell through
I’m just saying
What we had is gone
I need a substitute
For you
I KNOW THE SONG
I know the song
The moon sings
Though she only sings
To moonbeams
And to all the stars
That twinkle
In the night
I know the song
Her heart hears
Since she belongs
To no one
And there is none to hear
Her sing her song
I know to sing
The moon song
That mostly the moon
Sings alone
Bravely
Through the night
I know the song
The moon sings
I understand the harmony rings
That tinkle chiming for the sun
I, too, am
A motherless child
My heart and soul
Are running wild
I, too, am a motherless child
I AM A MIRROR
I am a mirror
I reflect the grace
Of my mother
The tenacity
Of my grandmother
The patience
Of my grandfather
The sweat
Of my great-grandmother
The hope
Of my great-great-grandfather
The songs
Of my ancestors
The prayers
Of those on the auction block
The bravery
Of those in middle passage
I reflect the strengths
Of my people
And for that alone
I am loved
EVERYTHING GOOD IS SIMPLE
Everything good is simple: a soft-boiled egg…toast fresh from the oven with a pat of butter swimming in the center…steam off a cup of black coffee…John Coltrane bringing me “Violets for My Furs”
Most simple things are good: Lines on a yellow legal pad…dimples defining a smile…a square of gray cashmere that can be a scarf…Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Some things clear are complicated: believing in a religion…trying to be a good person…getting rid of folk who depress you…Horace Silver Blowing the Blues Away
Complicated things can be clear: Dvořák’s New World Symphony…Alvin Ailey’s Revelations…Mae Jemison’s ride in space…Mingus Live at Carnegie Hall
All things good are good: poetry…patience…a ripe tomato on the vine…a bat in flight…the new moon…me in your arms…things like that
DEAL OR NO DEAL
(for ENGL 4714 CRN 16937)
My class is not sure
That I should apply to
Deal or No Deal
They think I am lucky
After all
I am teaching
Them
They know I am smart they are
For example
learning
yet
They don’t want to see me
Make those greedy mistakes
And push beyond
The envelope
The banker is neither frien
d
Nor foe
He’s a machine
To think you can beat him
Is to think you will win
At Vegas or love
But I persist
My dream is a red dress
Above my knees
High-heel red sandals
And me coming over the top
The music booming
Hi Howie I will say
With a lovely smile
I don’t want to play the game
I want to be it
They were born forty years after me
Yet I am younger
I know you cannot go
Through life
Unless you are willing
For love or money
To make a fool
Of yourself
Where else does the ecstasy
lie
I PROVIDE
I am the stretch
The scratch
The way your shoulders
Shrug off sleep
I am the first note
Of the song you sing
The first beat
Of the rhythm you tap
The only high note
You reach
I am the ink
On your newspaper
The grounds
That make your coffee
The bread
That you will toast
I am your shoelaces
For your run
Bicycles Page 2