"I am offering this poem to you, since I have nothing else to give." ~Jimmy Santiago Baca
“This, this is about my own some-day daughter. When you approach me, already stung-stayed with insecurity, begging, “Mom, will I be pretty? Will I be pretty?” I will wipe that question from your mouth like cheap lipstick and answer, “No! The word pretty is unworthy of everything you will be, and no child of mine will be contained in five letters.”
when your little girl
asks you if she’s pretty
your heart will drop like a wineglass
on the hardwood floor
part of you will want to say
of course you are, don’t ever question it
and the other part
the part that is clawing at
you
will want to grab her by her shoulders
look straight into the wells of
her eyes until they echo back to you
and say
you do not have to be if you don’t want to
it is not your job
both will feel right
one will feel better
she will only understand the first
when she wants to cut her hair off
or wear her brother’s clothes
you will feel the words in your
mouth like marbles
you do not have to be pretty if you don’t want to
it is not your job
Clear blue sky, palm trees, offshore breeze, nice sunset. Well-dressed black boys on my street selling drugs. Last night I was getting out of the car and one of them came up to me and asked, “Lookin’?”
I pointed to the apartment where I lived and said, “No, living.”
He smiled and said, “I heard that.”
Henry Rollins, The Portable Henry Rollins
He puts his cheek against mine
and makes small, expressive sounds.
And when I’m awake, or awake enough
he turns upside down, his four paws
in the air
and his eyes dark and fervent.
“Tell me you love me,” he says.
“Tell me again.”
Could there be a sweeter arrangement? Over and over
he gets to ask.
I get to tell.
“Little Dog’s Rhapsody in the Night” by Mary Oliver from Dog Songs
“The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part”
“The Waiting” performed by Eddie Vedder & Tom Petty (original via Amazon)
Words ... for the Time Being 