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
