Floors of A Building
for T.L.C.

i.
blood-let a poem
out of me while I live

tiny tot has tickled me
with what I know not
unable to unknot

though try I did, try I do

all knotted up in lines of verse
naughty poetry,
rope about a tree

after all, after weeks
verse together
attached to her
pull, inseparable

ii.
center of the book,
staples through us

tiny holes hold us together
pierce us, cause pain
make intimate, make us

to come apart,
we’d have to be
ripped apart, torn apart

have an apple,
have a heart

iii.
advantage to take
of who is less
than five feet tall

who is short of self-esteem

though I suggest
I’ve come to bring some

is my desire to see
what I might get away with
while tide is low
see how far I can go

walk out to sea
before the water’s over my head
before tide comes in again

out a mile or two
too far to swim to shore
before I’m out of breath

what is the length
and breadth of her,
the height and depth of her

as interested in her
as land I wished to purchase
I’ve an exquisite structure
in mind to erect

I want to pitch a roof
over our heads

iv.
I was in Inagua
when she was born
in what month is her birthday

I was 32 when she was born
what can she offer me
what or who am I empty for

were I to swallow her
would I be full or empty still,
hungry still

is she meat or drink,
air or just image

able to fill my eye
but not where there’s a hole inside

whole lot a women,
I choose a child

I’d need SMA
to keep her alive


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2007
10:04 a.m. 28.12.07