Reason enough to love you.

Reason Enough to Love You

The night my mama called--a Thursday night--

which meant, certainly, something was wrong,

you took my hand, sitting there on the bed

not interrupting while she told jokes and

I laughed   and I told jokes   and she laughed,

both of us trying to cry so soft, maybe

the other one could pretend not to hear.

You took my hand and held on tight while

my tears ran down your shoulder and mama

told another joke in my left ear.

You didn't make me explain, just held me

and took away some of the fear of dying.

The day they were shouting my name,

everyone looking at me like I was crazy

or had forgotten somehow to dress right

like all those nightmares from my childhood

you put your hand on my neck and squeezed

stayed close to me   stayed close

and put your fear in another place.

And that morning when I woke up crying

not able to say why, it could have been anything,

any of ten good reasons to just lay back and cry,

you slid over and put your whole body over mine

gently, your hand in my hair, your mouth on my ear,

wrapping silence and love and the muscles of your

thighs

all around me   and let me cry   let me cry

like no one ever let me before.

Dorothy Allison

My thanks to Allyson McDuffie for sending me this poem.

And so the Poemapalooza continues.

Comments

[Beth Patterson]

This is a stunning poem. The best line, for me, was 'stayed close
and put your fear in another place'

That is real love.

Thank you, Patti, for this lovely thing to wake to.

[Acausal Connection]

A great poem from a controversial southern writer who was a victim of childhood abuse who seems to have triumphed over her troubled past.

It is the most wonderful feeling in the world when someone recognizes, understands and responds to your emotional needs. It is, perhaps, the firmest foundation of love.

On her website, I love a portion of the Emily Dickinson poem "Life" she quotes from:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all sprouted wings of eternal hope?

[Teri and the cats of Furrydance]

I have goosebumps. that was so telling and so hopeful a poem. Thank you for sharing!

[janet]

That's a beautiful poem -- I am going to have to send it around. I had forgotten about it and Dorothy is one of my favorite authors.

[Suzanne Deal-Fitzgerald]

Dorothy Allison is a great writer, and she makes me proud that I love the North Carolina writers like I do.

She's able to be in my face, my heart, and my head at the same time, and I am not the same.