The arguments begin like
my period
early unpredictable
bloody
dressing for school,
blasting Prince
his guitar riffs muffling
the cursing the punches
breaking up their fights
becomes ritual
like bad cramps, like
staining favorite outfits
I know I'll never love
this way again
So I keep holdin' on before the good is gone
when my father moves out,
the wild Irish Rose,
cough syrup and Kool-Aid
mixture
is not enough so then
it’s seven or eight aspirin
but I failed chem, so
it’s razors- my messy maze
of scars and long sleeve
shirts
I try to do this right,
cut deep enough
bleed long enough- hoping
I’m enough
to bring them back
together
I know I'll never love
this way again
So I keep holdin' on before the good is gone
the blond on his arm
after reading US
Weekly
there’s no comparing to
her lithe figure
wonder if she works out
all day
if he pays for her
trainer
if she even has a job
then she is blond which
is a different
category than white
blond has its own
story its own golden
fabric of myth
add blond to white and
automatically
he is out of my
league always
no matter how much I
scrub
in the morning showers
the dark patches on
elbows
and knees won’t go away
only red replaces them
raw after disgust has its
turn
black is my soul they say
black is my skin they say
brown is my skin I say
and the only color my
soul knows
is longing the weight of
its opaque density
The Adrien Brody/Halle
Berry Kiss Under A Microscope
When accepting
the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actor,
Adrien
Brody surprised presenter Halle Berry with a
back-bending kiss.
to be the back that bends
willingly
not darkened damp knees
twinging elbows working
washboards and splashing
grimy waters
to be the back that
bends willingly
for his kiss feel the
safety of arms
holding together this
precarious dance
part dashing part
dominance
part submission equals
romance
in his arms sartorial
safety
clutching turned to
smoothing
desired silk not seen to
ruffle, sunder, stain
his--- the eager
enlightened hunger
to be the back that
bends willingly
into his kiss
appreciating the diagonal slash
cut by two figures one
yielding one driving
breath held captive
between capitulating and
intent mouths
to be the back that
bends willingly
she must have stood first
the iron of her back must
melt
this is a time-consuming
process
molding metal forged by
diverted glances
misplaced hands in
pantries
promising pennies more on
the week’s dollar
the curve acquired from
plopping a brown nipple
into a hungry unassuming
white mouth
the curve carved when
floors required
her special hard-earned
shine
the ore of her must be
smelted
the blond on his arm
makes the Kelvin degree
unreachable in one
generation
it takes two or three
more to find the
spore that spawned
sarcasm for strength
forked tongues to smell
danger
venom to protect the soft
needy spots
inside the body’s curl
the sparkle hardened
into diamonds in her eye
coal takes years to
process
its soot easily wiped
from alabaster
statues, the vein in
marble pedestals admired
as diversion, texture,
never intentional
but soot from centuries
of belching chimneys
takes scrubbing, chemical
peels and
can leave layers of
attitudes, scars, keloids
disingenuous love at best
worst and still
alabaster is admired for
its virtue
purity under the right
fluorescent light
coal admired only for its
hardiness
in the way dandelions
grow thru cracks in
concrete
blushed roses crimson
lipped petals
darlings basking in the
sun
bane and glory of all
gardeners
unequivocal in beauty
until
peonies lilies birds of
paradise violets
bend the eye until
families, geniuses,
branches are learned
twisted, pruned and
straightened
horticulture as science
beauty becomes
application
a transparent stain
between glass slides
the cross section of one
culture’s aesthete
bred over another
