She was real thin
before rail thin was in
she wore apple rich
sticky like, candy-like
lipstick
red
like cherries
cherry-like
before they had to be
organic
before they had to be
like plastic
and were red, and ripe
back when they were
fresh
like the lips on girls
And she had dangling earrings
that I think
came down to her shoulders
earrings,
they dangled
anyway
and started at her ears
and a nose ring
all hoops
this was back before
before the Black girls
on TV
showed everybody
hoops had attitude
because back then
there were no Black girls
on TV
(Just White girls
with names like
Cindy and Marsha
and if they had hoop earrings
no one noticed
because everybody was too busy
being White and
in the burbs)
Because back then
if you said
hoops and Black
you meant the boys
playing on TV
which meant the
Men in the NBA
But I can't tell you exactly
how she dressed
because half the time
you didn’t exactly know
what it was she wore
or didn’t
Cause half the time
it was half
of what you’d expect
and half of what you
never seen before
more or less
But how did she smell?
she was like cinnamon
on cloves/on curry
on some flower/you couldn't name
on some else you didn't know
you’d never liked before
and something else too
And how she move
if not with her hips
and spine
making some
san serif inverted T
And I am not even touching
her smile
or her dark eyes
This was she
and she spelt her name
with two B’s and an I
so that when you said it
you had to kiss the wind
at her
she loved to turn her back
when you did
it was a message
to the wind
to the ether
to the time
She was
but this was
years ago
and when I saw her again
her breasts had turned
into children
and her hair
was under something
but she smiled
and said I remember you
and your books
(and all this time
I hadn’t known what
She’d known)
And all this time
and she said
I love my husband and
my children
and she was gone
and all that time too
And now all the time
when I watch TV
all the women
even the Yellow and Browns ones now
are different
Live Performance June 20, 2010
Radio Broadcast July 6, 2010