A Hug And A Kiss
for E.B. & M.D.

how she hugged me
why she hugged me

I had been her mother’s man,
man she couldn’t keep
they’d lost me, not seen me
I’d drifted off, way off

she herself a woman when
I didn’t know, had not a clue
until our encounter in Kentucky
until she cornered me, giggling, snickering
when she got me, while she hugged me

never knew I was worth so much
to her, her mother or to any one

don’t think I’d ever felt so much worth
not since I’d left my mother’s breasts
my mother’s arms

held me up from falling over,
from falling down
held me back from wanting to tumble
into a grave or off the earth

oh, what she made living worth
this planet worth,
when it was or was fast becoming
marble I was tired shooting,
ready to toss it into deep harbor waters

she came along like a shooting star
like chalk, a sign across night’s blackboard

I tell you, I wanted to fuck her,
stand on my head, walk on water
ever since, to express appreciation

what though did she want, would she want
what would she be satisfied with

ejaculate in her to complement
her holy gesture
how she - why she - when she held me
or is this thought contempt
violation of sanctity, of the worship
which that meeting was

embrace like nothing I’ve known
since my diaper-wearing days
except her mother and I,
standing in their living room once,
kissed until the seat of her panties
was as wet as clothes
on the line in the rain


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2007
3:52 p.m. 26//09/07