Love is Coming, Look!

 

For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella

Ariana Brown
after Anis Mojgani and Audre Lorde

For those making tea in the soft light of Saturday morning
in the peaceful kitchen
in the cool house
For those with shrunken hearts still trying to love
For those with large hearts trying to forget
For those with terrors they cannot name
upset stomachs and too tight pants
For those who get cut off in traffic
For those who spend all day making an elaborate meal
that turns out mediocre
For those who could not leave
even when they knew they had to
For those who never win the lottery
or become famous
For those getting groceries on Friday nights

There is something you know
about living
that you guard with your life
your one fragile, wonderful life
wonder, as in, awe,
as in, I had no idea I would be here now.

For those who make plans and those who don’t
For those driving across the country to a highway that knows them
For the routes we take in the dark, trusting
For the roads for the woods for the dead humming in prayer
For an old record and a strong sun
For teeth bared to the wind
a pulse in the chest
a body making love to itself

There is every reason to hate it here
There is a list of things making it bearable:
your friend’s shoulder Texas barbecue a new book
a loud song a strong song a highway that knows you
sweet tea an orange cat a helping hand
an unforgettable dinner

a laugh that escapes you and deflates you
like a pink balloon left soft with room
for goodness to take hold

For those who have looked in the mirror and begged
For those with weak knees and an attitude
For those called “sensitive” or “too much”
For those not called enough
For the times you needed and went without
For the photo of you as a child
quietly icing cupcakes your hair a crackling thunderstorm

Love is coming.
It’s on its way.
Look—

Copyright © 2022 by Ariana Brown. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 14, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dateline: The Ukraine

Image
The Coming Catalysm Continues: The Ukraine So, your neighbor who has been in Rome "working from home" for a month, returns to get his windows replaced in his flat on March 1, then says he has to leave for NYC for a few weeks.    You say, " How exciting !" as you hand him a month's worth of mail and his mailbox key.    "Not really. Ukraine.”   “I’m sorry, what? In New York?” “Yeah, I have to go to the U.N. and try to do what we can." Then he makes the prayer sign with his hands. He works for the World Bank. He manages teams that are trying to financial undermine Russia.   "Go get' em!" seemed like the wrong thing to say. I just say, “Oh, yeah, uh…great. Thanks.”   Boy, how you so realize you live in D.C. when your neighbor says that. I’ve been enjoying the way the media has been crowing about Zelenskyy’s prowess from comedian to real life freedom fighter. I mean, by the time you get this, I’m pretty sure they’ll hav...
Read more

Counting Sheep

Image
The Dream I had a dream, which I’m becoming more and more prone to doing these days. Was a time that I didn’t remember my dreams. The entire time I was with Jon and had AIDS, I didn’t remember my dreams. But I’m remembering them more and more lately. Age perhaps. So, the room is white, or the mise en scene is very white and seems 2D, but is indeed a 3D space where I find myself with a functional version of my Mom. Mom is as enamoured with the surroundings as I am and we’re seeing a bunch of lambs/baby sheep (in the dreams, we don’t call them lambs, we called them baby sheep for some reason). And the sheep are more or less a stuffed animal version of the real thing. But to us they seem 100% real.  And as we are standing there, a white-haired terrier with a black tipped snout is herding them. We are charmed by the dog and the baby sheep. My Mom and I are gloriously happy. We don’t know what’s going on, but we’re seeing so many of them, too many to count. And so I woke and h...
Read more