When You Leave
When You Leave
Today it is July and a heatstroke cornered makes
progress slow and sleepy in a parking lot,
my heart goes with eastbound cars
when you leave. I want to love you
with your mind turned off, in your skin
you say is white—
I say Cherokee:
because I know your toes,
I know your stillness
like the trees, your laughter leveling forests,
like the kissing wind against my knees.
Lay down your winter coat, pick up your skin,
the faucet running, children will not hear you coming.
Done with small feasts and narrow steps—
tonight your night.
Leave your husbands without regret—
leave on the light.
10 thoughts on "When You Leave"
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“I know your toes,/ I know your stillness” is a heartstopper of a line. Solid work here!
Great shaping and the first stanza is gold. Like the way the title.line repeats and acts as a fulcrum.
Love “laughter leveling forests” and “lay down your winter coat, pick up your skin.”
i second this.
love the idea of
forest laughter as a leveling yell..
“because I know your toes” — my heart cracked a little. “leave on the light” — took breath away.
I want to be very transparent. Laverne Zabielski’s work inspired the shaping of this poem – she has an art for layout! Thank you to all comments on the lines, this becoming a “just for me” poem until late yesterday. Nice to see it live here.
Cool! Now that you mention it, I can see some of her shaping techniques here.
I dig the music of this, Manny. And the sexiness, and maybe—husbands, plural!—the devilry.
Beautiful images!
Yes, my dear, well done, and as Kevin said, kind of sexy, and I know all about leaving husbands, yes, plural, without regret.