BY THE NUMBERS

By Request

she laughed
stretched out across the beige carpet of our apartment
my clumsiness always did that to her
 
she nods
when I tell her that I might try to become a contestant on
Jeopardy
as long as they don’t ask me about chemistry
or European cuisine
 
she thinks
my wallet is suffering from deposit amnesia
although I have never turned away any of her withdrawal requests
 
she smiles
when I sneak up behind her after she showers
drawn by the scent of Ivory soap
she yells
when I drop kick my pants into the closet every morning
after a hard night at work
 
she cries
when she sends forth her heart
and it is returned trampled upon with a thousand muddy footprints
 
she asks
as I endlessly stare at my computer screen
‘why don’t you write a poem about me?&rsq...

This Cup

so I write
never asking for this cup to be passed to me
but it is my turn to drink of its bitterness
or of its sweet nectar
depending on what day it is
or
who reads my poem
or
whose poem I read

and I will not criticize
nor will I critique your pain
your death 
your happiness
your ecstasy
same in verbiage
but a different climax 
pain and/or pleasure
wondering
will your poem hold me in the wrinkled aftermaths
leaving loose change on the nightstand
the sounds of your works lightly closing front door
careful not to wake me

but your tires screech from the driveway
down the road
never to be seen again
or is my poem a thumbs up from a poetic Caesar
or death in the dust 
last gasps of a poetic gladiator
or will your poem leave me 
again
prostrate 

A Warm Moment In Time (For My Valentine Back In The Day)

I loved her
though she wasn't the cutest girl in the neighborhood
couldn't afford to wear the latest threads
place her delicate feet inside the latest platforms
or shape her afro into the perfect Angela Davis sphere
 
I loved her
because when she slow dragged with me
I lost all of my insecurities and inhibitions
for the length of the 45 playing on the turntable
words lost their weight
while I held her tightly in rhythm
 
her warm
even
breathing caressed the side of my neck
and her fingers
sinfully lost
in the deepest part of my afro
 
when the three minutes were up
I would return to the end of the sofa
and wait patiently
while others took their turns
and lost themselves with her
in their own
warm moments in time

Perceptions

at one time
black
was evil and satanic
then became
beautiful
whereas
it is now
fashionable
and God only knows what 
black 
will be
tomorrow

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

out of mind
out of sight
was what you said last night
as the light was turned off
and I walked away shackled in shameful handcuffs
skillfully placed when I wasn't looking
 
out of sight
was what we used to be
strutting our stuff across the stage
like when James Brown was all the rage
back in the day
we were the soul couple #1
but when the performance was done
the curtain came down
and no one called for an encore
 
out of mind
is what I was and what I am today
walking past me without a word to say
and a cold look penetrates my being
and what I'm seeing is snow melting slowly
uncovered
the uneven pavement
with last summer's trash
still piled up beside the gutter
 
out of sight
what I once felt for you has been packed
neatly stacked in a box
set lovi...

Til Death Do Us Part

forever 
penned in poetry and prose and Hallmark cards and letters 
calls
texts from places where I can’t get next to you
the
“I Do”
part
up to the 
“Ashes To Ashes”
part
 
but it ain’t promised
Las Vegas giving tomorrow even odds
seen and heard about
forevers 
ending in the strangest places and times
here today
gone 
while they lay themselves down to sleep
joy 
absent in the morning

so 
I ain’t gonna bore you with empty words
promises my love for you would like to make 
so you can rush off to the lottery man
cash in your scratch off winning ticket
for sure
forever
is keeping the battery fresh in my watch
listening to the minute hand ticking in the background
yet ...

Clean

I’m not a poet
have gone through the rinse cycle
a writer of poems

Odyssey

so
I wonder what would it be like
if I were a planet in your universe
 
what if I flew too near to your sun?
would you singe my wings
like Icarus
hurling me downward onto the jagged rocks of your shores?
 
could I revolve
and evolve within your solar system
keeping track of time and seasons?
 
would you support me with your gravity
or would I fall from your galaxy
into unknown worlds beyond?
 
would I be just another planet
in your universe?
another star among the millions
illuminating your nocturnal skies?
 
I wonder what it would be like
if I were a planet
in your universe

Yesterday

I do not dream of yesterday
when all my troubles seemed so far away
but they are as near as my finger touching the nose on my trembling face
and so false it is 
when my choir sings on Sunday mornings that trouble don’t last always

I can clearly see the morning mist 
clearing the view from the heavy lynch roped branches of southern trees
weeping women and children on their knees
as their men swing above them like orchards of strange fruit 
musical strains softly played in the background
the ghost of Lady Day
still singing from a long rusted microphone

but this ain’t yesterday
when we were meagerly rewarded
severely chastised based on our daily yield 
the long unending God forsaken crisp baking hours in the plantation field
back to being less than three fifths of a human being
and what I am seeing isn’t a vision of long a...

Antiseptic

bending low to the ground
aluminum dustpan in hand
brushing the last remnants of who you 
neatly
completely
into the plastic trash bag tied against the kitchen doorknob
 
just to be sure
under the kitchen sink
considering which cleaning agent would 
best remove the stink and stench of you from my home
from my mind
from my life
knowing full well
tomorrow
Wednesday
6 a.m.
like clockwork
sanitation trucks
they be comin’ around the mountain 
beating my alarm clock to the punch
 
I gotta send a thank you note to the Mayor
them sanitation trucks are always on time
to take away the things I no longer want
no longer need
no longer present to clutter my life
attracting unwanted vermin and insects
keeping reminders of who you were 
invading my pristine&nb...