Identity

I don’t want to be  
nobody’s poet-tree 
no sorry song 
no mystery 
no Billie’s blues 
no one drop rule 
no rebel muse  

Stop caging me  
I am my own  
simple selves
    
     every one  
     and no one  
     you know  
     at all. 

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

I waited six feet
beneath his thorned flesh
while it dried like butchered meat
beneath Golgotha’s sun.

Watched his head fall
finally that ninth hour -
the body hanging by its holes
on the wooden cross they chose.

Wanted to touch him
like he touched me
when he cast my demons out.

Roll his limbs between
my seasoned hands.
Dress his body for the tomb.

But when I returned
full of spices to anoint him.
I found an angel hiding in the rock,
no flesh left to soothe and salve,
a gospel of my own to preach.

Mr. O

He had butterfly fingers
my cat-eyed man
with cinnamon snake locks
that teased my face
when he swayed over me
low and sweet
and made me sing
all octaves

I used to love his locks
the vines of his mind
where I would climb
cling and swing
unfurling into myself and him

The way he loved me
kissed all my mysteries
I could never wash
his music from my skin

Mother Love

Mama I remember silent lullabies
you braided gently into this head
before bedtime.

The room was dim and warm
when you’d call me to bring tools
to remake my head: two pillows,
plastic comb, wooden brush,
and blue grease.  Then I was ready
for our only intimacy.

Placing the pillow between your legs
I would sit waiting to become
your creation again.  As your thighs
enveloped my narrow shoulders
I wished I could sit on your lap instead,
place my head on your breast
But you unbraided the day’s blues
from my hair, parted the unruly bush
into four and commenced to comb.

You’d massage bergamot salve
into my scalp, untangling curls
of anger coiled fast at the root.

Systematically you’d work, raking
comb and soothing salve, weaving
dark magic in triple meter,
then finally smooth each satin plait.

While I, captivated by your perfect hands
listened to the language of your love
and tried to decipher the lyrics.