8 February 2007 | Vol. 6, No. 4
Only If
after Rose Piper's Slow Down Freight Train
If windy nights in
that blustering city
are unbearable and you find
work is not worth walking solo;
if you need the surety
of relentless kudzu
spreading miles along
country highways
and my musk scent has
lifted from my lace
negligee you took
because you needed
to remember why you're
there;
if the salt-cured ham glazed
with honey is no longer
my sweet sweat on your
tongue and your fingertips
forget journeys along my
forever hips;
if you can find someone
to stew you neck bones and
when after a search for every
remnant of flesh your lips
covet the straight lines
of my neck
then, come back
come back home.
About the author:
DeLana Dameron, a native of Columbia, SC spends her days in Chapel Hill, North Carolina translating the world around her—forever trying to marry the historical and the literary. She is a Cave Canem fellow and a member of the Carolina African American Writer's Collective. She adores letters and can be reached at .
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by DeLana Dameron at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 6, No. 4, where "Only If" ran on February 8, 2007. List other work with these same labels: poetry, love poem, ekphrastic.
