Baby Steps
for Aneka Stewart

i.
what about a line of verse
every word in it
seasoned too salt
or sweetened too sweet

every word, flavored
in some extreme way or another

assembled together
like TNT upon a carriage
crossing the West
vibrating, bouncing

in danger of exploding

if shake up or buck up

everybody on board
would go up
or blow up

ii.
outlawed cannibalism
a moment too soon

should have waited
until after she came along
after she came around

what a meal
I'd have made of her
of her parts,
of her heart and soul

she makes a meal of me
every time I see her
whenever I'm near her
my heart beating, like love

with something to tenderize


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
Written between 11:05 p.m.
and 11:23 p.m. at Express Yourself
at the Hub, on Wednesday,
April 22, 2009