rainy day poem

I like poems with punchlines that make me laugh - and make me forward them to sixteen people who need that exact flavour of laughter.

For over a decade, Judy Grahn's poems have been, variously, incantation, prayer, fiesta, dirge,and manifesto to me.

Last week, these lines of hers floated up from my cells and walked me through the countdown to Wednesday's show:

my lovers teeth are white geese flying above me
my lovers muscles are rope ladders under my hands

we left, as we have left all of our lovers
as all lovers leave all lovers
much too soon to get the real loving done.

They come from her mindblowing nine-part poem, A Woman Is Talking To Death. A work which captures the race, class and gender faultlines of the USA with power, precision, pain, beauty, and technical skill that leave me wordless.

But the poem that made me laugh today, and forward madly, is Love rode 1500 miles. It starts:

Love rode 1500 miles on a grey
hound bus & climbed in my window

and wraps up with:

..........Love
like anybody else, comes to those who
wait actively
and leave their windows open.

It's from the collection Lesbein'. Download it and read the rest.