Purple Rain-wet Bougainvillea
for Erica James

i.
who who who can I possibly blend with
can possibly blend with me

lovely ladies I know and meet
out-of-this-world lovely
out-of-this-world in love with some of them

unable to know how they feel about me
but could we blend socially, our bodies
make babies

combination of who and me to leave history

tomorrow and we're gone, offspring of ours
left to carry on, to remind the world

our minds as well as our hearts combined

who to get to--go through like this
come out on the other side
thread through needle, needle through cloth

that man through the rain forest
in Peter Matthiessen's novel,
At Play In The Fields of the Lord,
in South America

who to enter like a country, abide there
who to abide in me

we two, with our presence, our self-presents
alter each other

out of two countries, one bigger one
add to the map, to the globe
children to point to, to point at

spinning upon teacher's desk
on a desk at the back of the class

who with me to alter the world, to alter creation

ii.
Kool-Aid in colorful cups, with sugar added
or limeade made from scratch

limes to cut and squeeze to fill a pitcher
ice to add to it

big wooden spoon to stir it all together

afterward serve it, me and someone,
some woman to blend like this, mix like this

anybody out there to jump into bed with
into the ocean with or to jump like Pocahontas
or like that crew of three in “The Beach”

to fall like waterfall, into the water below
after throwing possessions, rucksacks

no choice but to throw themselves/ourselves

after our minds, after commitment


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
10:19 p.m. 28.08.09