Opal Palmer Adisa

Elegba

he will spin you
around
seven times
take all your money
and toss you
in any day of the week
he will make you laugh
out loud
while picking your nose
others will glance at you
as if you are crazy
need to be restrained
he will make you
dribble on yourself
and wipe your mouth
with leaves
he will make you
forget to remember
that you are someone's
wife or husband and
go home with someone else
he will make you
stay out in the streets
all night and act the fool
and then he will make
you go home
alone suck on lime
and paint your toe nails
psychedelic green
he will make you
do it again and again
just because
he relishes mischief

48 Hours

perhaps if i knew
where words would lead me
perhaps if i knew
that calling you
by your name
would commit me to knowing you
perhaps i would have feigned
in difference
left you in denial
turned my attention
to idle flatter
refuse your number
or throw it away
but i kept it
and i called
and you came and got me
and the sound of your voice
were like fingers dancing up and down
the back of my knees
and i kept callin~our name
until you answered
your hands on my hips
my back pressed into your chest
and i imagined a familiar scene
me drinking blue mountain coffee
on a veranda overlooking the caribbean sea
and you rocking gently in the hammock
despite the frigid cold
of february in dc
and i knew you
as thoroughly as you knew the name
you had not been wanting to acknowledge
inside the longing
of an intimacy we crave
inside the remembrance
of what is still possible
i knew you
and you knew me
and despite the impossible reality
we seared skin
to where words pulse

Living in the Moment

i am beginning to understand
the other side of love
that is spontaneous
unafraid
that just loves
for the moment
is perfect
and the people involved
are at ease with each other
and in this instant
there is nothing
but love

i am beginning
to move with grace
in this uncluttered
space of love
where there are no furniture
on which i might snub my toes
or you might bruise your knees
as you move towards me
and perhaps this is the love
i have been seeking all along
the love that's free
without pretense
without demands
the love that simply surrenders
to the moment
without any concern
for what could happen
in the next slice of time
the love that is fed by life

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Cover Design: Joseph McNair