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Writer's pictureJen Hughes

His (Cento)

Beloved,

I was once a sinner man

No angel promised

Sorry eyes spoke not

My long nights lone

An empty bed. But persecuting

Private childhood secrets

Some blues I’ve had

Falling down on me like rain


Phenomenally

I met a Lady Poet

Too sentimental, and much too gentle

Someone to care

Exchanging dreams with

For fear of flying

Taking my chances in a dangerous world

I don’t tremble in your arms

Then can I greedily consume

Your laughter brave?


Grinning

In golden riot. Each day is

Going some place

On other worlds some

Masterchart of old ideas erased. The

Tender evening poignancies of

Love linger between

Your hands

Lay stretching until the dawn

And grinning still.


How long will

I hear again the laughter?

Those sweet excesses that

Screams, races my heart?

You, your brash insolent beauty

Brightening my days with the light in your eyes


Lying in green grass

But until I see you

Let me humbly say

I’ve never been so strong.



With snippets from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (1986) reassembled with love by Jen Hughes on a late Thursday night in February 2016.


Originally published in Adjacent Pineapple (~2017/18). Magazine is discontinued and all links to it lead nowhere. I wanted to archive this poem for you to read. The companion cento 'Hers' and an original poem 'Mercury' was published at the same time. Both are available to read on my website.Thanks so much to Colin Herd for giving my poetry a platform in my early career, I'll be forever grateful.


https://www.adjacentpineapple.com/jen-hughes



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