for: S.D.
We walked barefoot downtown,
Took off our raincoats under the falls,
With our pant legs rolled up,
We swam in Niagara’s fountain.
We met each other there.
We danced in a three foot pond,
Playing with someone else’s children.
Side-stepping forgotten wishes,
We filled the lines of our poem.
You asked me to marry you there.
There, when I told you of my
Dysfunctional family and lovers,
A girl’s need for stability; her strife
Of seeking greatness and purpose.
You said we would live life humble.
You went back to New York;
Taught your son to say my name.
Wrote me into your lectures;
Read my poems to your class.
You asked me to marry you there.
I, lost a tear for my ignorance,
Stepped away from myself,
Trying to recreate my vulnerability-
An insulting offer to you.
So I put those words away.
You were the first mirror to see my back eyes.
The first man to curse a shooting star,
For the raging flame it was.
The first poem I wrote,
As a woman.
Source: The author, 2001. Written in 1997.