Like Water
love notes
I am alive, so I grow
I cut, I bruise, I fall
I twist, I morph, I crawl
But then, I grow
To stand up again
Continuing, to be tall
My lover, is a part of me
And so he grows
He bends, he bows
Tips and shakes
Sometimes we break
But together, we grow
My lover and I, we are water
Molding a path
Parting what be
He and I, you see, we are mighty
Mighty in our healing
Mighty in our destruction
No matter the obstruction
Together we grow
My lover and I, we are in tandem
I share his spirit
With my entire being
If he were gone
As would I be
My lover and I, we are children dancing
Loving lightly, to days end
Filling the airs with our affection
Sprouting seeds of tireless glee
Our love grows, it spreads
Flourishing, effortlessly
My lover and I, we are like venom
Poisonous and beautiful
A complexity
We walk a fine line
Where dangerous is natural
That is the fear that comforts me
It carries me far
From place to place
I can search, I can wander
Starve, be parched
Yet how my lover and I, continue to grow
That is a wonder
Perfectly enough for me
from A Portrait
Act I
Ms. Gloria
Stan Antonio. Born cowboy
Then floated down to New Orleans
Gifting parish gals endless joy
Prettiest man I’d ever seen
Oh Stan. Stan Antonio
My one sweet summer Romeo
Sang when he spoke, a real gentleman
Like tunes right out of the quarter
Fell for him deeply, gave up my plans
Stuck on him like mortar
When I was in his arms
The stars came out at night
His eyes like charms
Locked me under the moonlight
Oh Stan. Stan Antonio
My one sweet summer Romeo
Whispered me softly to his bed
Bodies dancing like notes on a page
Played, plucked, beautifully read
Glamorous, he was my golden age
I glistened full lady from his touch
And the way he called my name
Gloria, I burned for him oh so much
Made me a woman, never the same
The summertime breeze turned cold
Taking with it my sweet summer Romeo
I had been warned, I had been told
Don’t put all your eggs into Antonio
My body still feels the heat
Of lying on his chest
Beads of sweat on lips so sweet
Antonio, went out west
from A Portrait
Act II
Ms. Gloria
Courage, like air we breathe
Is absolute necessity
The fearless creed
Manifested in bravery
Out of our mouths we cry
Singing our war song
Letting known our desire
Like battle sounds on a drum
Courage, where hearts beat
Pounding, in race
Trying to find our seat
Establishing our place
Brave, to be without fear
And go where none has gone
To utter a dream, the seer
Until the work is done
I am Woman. I am Courage
Where has she gone?
from A Portrait
Act I
Zora
I waited for my heart at bay
But his ship never came in
I was as lonely and lost
As the the piers on which I stood
My legs in too deep
Waiting to be swept away
We were old ships
Comrades in a fleet
We had been on different journeys
Too far in passing to turn around
Our way too unclear from bombs that had fallen
Shattering our serenity
Erupting in clouds of worry and growing soot
Blurred, unable to find a way
Today, our love is jettisoned
Ejected from the bows
Sinking in dismay
Our love is poured into the vastness
Too watered down and washed away
Now that we have been disfigured
Swept into an abyss
Our chapter is shut
Existing in a darkness
All we had, lost to paralysis
Our love has fallen to the bottom
Shacked to the seafloor
Tied to the weight of broken promises
Of lost hopes, joys, tears, laughs
Sunken and cast away
I can not learn to tread these waters
Now the truth has bubbled to the surface
I too may float astray
from A Portrait
Act I
Ms. Gloria
Pain. Cracks in the mirror, in her smile, troubles ignored
Stowed away in the depths of her years
Swallows her whole when no longer absorbed
Spreading wildly from confines of her fears
Pain the reminder air courses through our matter
Wakes her to breathe, exist, without remorse
Shakes her core sending all familiar to shatter
The alarm to feel, awaken, change course
Disrupting all
Like wildfire
Disrupting all
By force
Sister. Sister! A pounding in your ear
Of blood, rushing, to fight for today
Sister. Sister! Tread on, cast out fear
Like blooms in Spring, beauty’s on the way
I am woman. I am pain