I Take Master Card
(Charge Your Love To Me)
I've heard all the stories
'bout how you don't deserve me
'cause I'm so strong and beautiful and wonderful and you could
never live up to waht you know I should have but I just want to let
you know:
I take Master Card
You can love me as much as your heart can stand
then put the rest on
account and pay the interest
each month until we get this settled
You see we modern women do comprehend
that we deserve a whole lot more
than what is normally being offered but we are trying
to get aligned with the modern world
So baby you can love me all
you like 'cause you're pre-approved
and you don't have to sign on
the bottom line
Charge it up
'til we just can't take no more
it's the modern way
I take Master Card
to see your Visa
and i deal with a Discovery but I don't want any American
Express 'cause like the Pointer Sisters say: I need a slow hand

You Were Gone
You were gone
like a fly lighting
on that wall
with a spider in the corner
You were gone
like last week's paycheck
for this week's bills
You were gone
like the years between
twenty-five and thirty
as if somehow
You never existed
and if it wouldn't be
for the gray hairs
I'd never know that
You had come

Balances
in life
one is always
balancing
like we juggle our our mothers
against our fathers
or one teacher
against another
(only to balance our grade average)
3 grains salt
to one ounce truth
our sweet black essence
or the funky honkies down the street
and lately i've begun wondering
if you're trying to tell me something
we used to talk all night
and do things alone together
and i've begun
(as a reaction to a feeling)
to balance the pleasure of loneliness
against the pain
of loving you

Resignation
I love you
because the Earth turns round the sun
because the North wind blows north
sometimes
because the Pope is Catholic
and most Rabbis Jewish
because winters flow into springs
and the air cleans after a storm
because only my love for you
despite the charms of gravity
keeps me from falling off this Earth
into another dimension
I love you
because it is the natural order of things
I love you like that habit I picked up in college
of sleeping through lectures
or saying I'm sorry
when I get stopped for speeding
because I take my coffee Black
and my milk with chocolate
because you keep my feet warm
though my life a mess
I love you
because I don't want it
any other way
I am helpless
in my love for you
It makes me so happy
to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
locking me in an echo chamber
where your voice reverberates
through the four walls
sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
because it's been so good
for so long
that if I didn't love you
I'd have to be born again
and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you
The Dells tell me love
is so simple
the thought though of you
sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
because no two snowflakes are alike
and it is possible
if you stand tippy-toe
to walk between the raindrops
I love you
because I am afraid of the dark
and can't sleep in the light
because I rub my eyes
when I wake up in the morning
and find you there
because you with all your magic powers were
determined that
I should love you
because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you
I love you
because you made me
want to love you
more than I love my privacy
my freedom my commitments
and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
to love you
because you saw me one friday
afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you

Poetry is a Trestle
poetry is a trestle
spanning the distance between
what i feel
and what i say
like a locomotive i rish full speed ahead
trusting your strength
to carry me over
sometimes we share a poem
because people are near
and they would notice me
noticing you
so i write X and you write O
and we both win
sometimes we share a poem
because i'm washing the dishes
and you're looking at your news
or sometimes we make a poem
because it's Sunday and you want
ice cream while i want cookies
but always we share a poem
because belief predates action
and i believe
the most beautiful poem
ever heard is your heart
racing

You Are There
i shall save my poems
for the winter of my dreams
i look forward to huddling
in my rocker with my life
i wonder what i'll contemplate
lovers- certainly those
i can remember
and knowing my life
you'll be there
you'll be there in the cold
like a Siamese on my knee
proud purring when you let me stroke you
you'll be there in the rain
like an umbrella over my head
sheltering me from the damp mist
you'll be there in the dark
like a lighthouse in the fog
seeing me through troubled waters
you'll be there in the sun
like coconut oil on my back
to keep me from burning
i shall save a special poem
for you to say
you always made me smile
and even though i cried sometimes
you said i will not let you
down
my rocker and i on winter's porch
will never be sad if you're gone
the winter's cold has been stored
against
you will always be
there

BACK