Monthly Archives: September 2011

So, Langston, what do I do
with a dream deferred?
Do I soak it in
a jar of formaldehyde,
bottle it up, repress it?
Should I sip its ooze,
hack its weathered bones
into dim lemon beads?
Wear it to honor lonely elephants
and the ghosts of Mardi Gras?
Or, should I allow it to fester
beneath an emaciated gray sky–
And then run?

2005

Notes:

This piece was inspired by a news story I read shortly before I returned to New Orleans. It’s so sad: Lonely elephants, edgy apes shaken by post-Katrina life at zoo

Thanks for letting me borrow your words, Langston. (As if you had any say!)

If anything, I am more aware of each heartbeat;
erratic pumping like the crush of acorns
beneath bare feet–breathe in, bleed out–
Yes, it hurts.

When it snows, I become the lady in red,
dragging my lace shawl. It is no longer fun
when the cold burns my hands–when nothing
singes as it should

and wounds
cannot be cauterized.

08/30/11

Notes:

This poem is a sequel (of sorts) to Nightmare.