Motherhood

And then, daylight
Appeared — what for, this song
This soft white light
The quiet, cool exhalation
I’d waited a lifetime

None books I’d read
No wisdom sent my way
Foretold through the ages
Oh, those kind sages!
The wholesale beauty of you

A Making

A going has to come, I know
An acquiescence to the shortened days
A refusing to refuse the night

I’ll clothe myself in skin-tone colors
I will stop hearing creation’s groan silenced
I’ll start feeling good, acting great, again

Original Thought Credit: Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”

It Kills Me

I cannot remember the words

The top-ten song that found us there, together again that night

A vintage crimson string, tethering us to our wild years

All we knew in common, refined in the storm of them

I sang to you in the sheets we shared

That now escaped melody, I swear to you, sugar, it kills me

If you heard me, say you remember the words

Linear Track

You should turn on your headlights and come drive ’round here

Get here fast, then cruise real slow

For this pavement may not be ready yet for such a soulful soul

Such intention and growl, bold and sweet, has long been absent from this street

May spinning wheels find linear track

Have a song playing loud in your heart, so the whole neighborhood knows

Your intentions

Whatever they may be

I’ve no wants or words of wisdom there, and you’ll do what you want, anyway

As you should, but I will say

You should turn on your headlights and come drive ’round here