Birthday Words
for Simone Bridgewater

in the name of love, happy birthday

though I wish you all the joy in this world
how happy I'd have been to be able to see you
to hug and converse

who are you with and where in this world

by e-mail attached, better than nothing
but I miss you, it's been years

is Barak the group you sang with
was it at that event for Kayla Lockhart-Edwards
at the Shirley Street Theatre
where I'd have seen you last

had I known that would have been
the last time in a long time
I'd have made more of that evening
more of our time together

but those about us might have thought me mad

how necessary to seem cool and detached
even when we should be jumping up and down

Camille and her friend, Lisette, come to mind

in the film, “Camille Claudel,”
in each others arms, upon a spot,
they jump up and down, happy for good news

what will I do when I see you again

oh, to be uninhibited, euphoria mutually shared
to give us feathers, to give us wings

our poems about cups running over

ice cream upon a cone melting
all over a fist, all over the shirt or dress
of who is licking it but not fast enough


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
9:25 p.m. 18.10.09