When I was young, I used to Watch behind the curtains As men walked up and down the stre… Young men sharp as mustard. See them. Men are always

I keep on drying again. Veins collapse, opening like the Small fists of sleeping Children. Memory of old tombs,

Pretty women wonder where my secre… I’m not cute or built to suit a fa… But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say,

Some clichty folks don’t know the facts, posin’ and preenin’ and puttin’ on acts, stretchin’ their backs.

My man is Black Golden Amber Cha… Warm mouths of Brandy Fine Cautious sunlight on a patterned r… Coughing laughter, rocked on a whi… Graceful turns on woolen stilts S…

We were entwined in red rings Of blood and loneliness before The first snows fell Before muddy rivers seeded clouds Above a virgin forest, and

Beloved, In what other lives or lands Have I known your lips Your Hands Your Laughter brave

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing

There are some nights when sleep plays coy, aloof and disdainful. And all the wiles that I employ to win

I’ve got the children to tend The clothes to mend The floor to mop The food to shop Then the chicken to fry

You drink a bitter draught. I sip the tears your eyes fight to… A cup of lees, of henbane steeped… Your breast is hot, Your anger black and cold,

When I think about myself, I almost laugh myself to death, My life has been one great big jok… A dance that’s walked A song that’s spoke,

Soft grey ghosts crawl up my sleev… to peer into my eyes while I within deny their threats and answer them with lies. Mushlike memories perform

I note the obvious differences in the human family. Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy. Some declare their lives are lived