The night has been long,
The wound has been deep,
The pit has been dark,
And the walls have been steep.
Under a dead blue sky on a distant

Give me your hand
Make room for me
to lead and follow
you
beyond this rage of poetry.

My man is Black Golden Amber Cha
Warm mouths of Brandy Fine
Cautious sunlight on a patterned r
Coughing laughter, rocked on a whi
Graceful turns on woolen stilts S

Beloved,
In what other lives or lands
Have I known your lips
Your Hands
Your Laughter brave

I’ve got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry

Funky blues
Keen toed shoes
High water pants
Saddy night dance
Red soda water

Tears
The crystal rags
Viscous tatters
Of a worn-through soul
Moans

We were entwined in red rings
Of blood and loneliness before
The first snows fell
Before muddy rivers seeded clouds
Above a virgin forest, and

FOR DAVID P—B
The eye follows, the land
Slips upward, creases down, forms
The gentle buttocks of a young
Giant. In the nestle,

We die,
Welcoming Bluebeards to our darke
Stranglers to our outstretched nec
Stranglers, who neither care nor
care to know that