that's what my friends say.
They say,
girl,
go conquer Egypt, or something.
Get a ring on every finger.
Did you know,
those are not Nile crocodiles
doing the old snap and roll
in the shallows?
Those are my old loves.
Talk to them.
See what I'm about, on my good days.
I still have them, sometimes
(good days, I mean)
but the nights have gone molasses black for me,
though not half as sweet.
If you could love me,
then why won't you love me
like you did
the first time?
Come on, baby,
I need so little, and you possess so much--
every toss of your hair moves the planets.
Come on.
that's what my friends say.
They say,
do that strut, like you used to do.
But that was before I went so girl-weak and needy.
That was before I knew how you could please me.
Before the fall.
Before I met you.
_______
Ah, the longing... such sweet despair.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to lose the programming that love can be earned, begged for, made to be where it isn't. This poem is a heartbreaker.
ReplyDelete"every toss of your hair moves the planets."
ReplyDeleteWow.
Finding love reaching out while in the midst of despair...like a lifeline being thrown to a drowning wo/man. Great one!
ReplyDeleteShe sounds a bit too dangerous to love. Keep her at arms length. ;)
ReplyDeleteC'mon
ReplyDeleteLove it. The best lines were easily the couplet about molasses black nights not half as sweet, and the line "every toss of your hair moves the planets." The first is a delightful double comparison/contrast, which carries through the thought nicely, and second does what poetry does so well, which is condense all the gravity of an idea into a pinprick black hole of thought. Unlike this comment, which is rambling, long, and over now. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the Nile crocodile exes, the hair that shakes planets and the familiar sad ol' song..
ReplyDeleteshake it ... do the crocodile rock .. come on baby shake it off .. shake it out ...
ReplyDeleteVery poignant, in spite of the crocodiles:-) Love the hair-toss line and your closing lines especially much.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this. Every line. Every damn one! You rock!
ReplyDeleteDid you do away with the other blog? I loved it.
ReplyDeleteGF Cleo did kill a brother & a sister, ya know, just in passing, so...
The catalysts & inhibitors in life are many. ~Mary
I love the second stanza, especially these lines:
ReplyDelete"but the nights have gone molasses black for me"
"I need so little, and you possess so much--
every toss of your hair moves the planets."
I really like your matter-of-fact style of voice in this. 'the nights have gone molasses black for me' oh that's good. And 'do that strut, like you used to do'...ha, I like that. I find that final stanza to be stirring and quite relatable too.
ReplyDelete