From This Side

Rae Weaver

She never let fly the words,
packed them instead behind lips
stitched tight with white drawstring.

From lockers and hoops,
I slipped him in like
any other shadowy love.
My mother nodded, smiled,

then exhaled relief, rescued
by the Friday nights I danced with another
of light enough skin, darkened
only by family ties
to hanger hooks and hops.

Years later, another
brought Ethiopian breezes,
Geez script, sand
and sharp grasses.
She spoke then -
her back, a smooth savannah,
tethered itself upright
in short gasps. Hands
fluttering at her throat,

she unleashed prim speech,
dark as his nape. Her words buzzed
like horseflies, sought to bite
with sneaky half-truths.

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Rae Weaver is an artist and writer currently living in southeastern Virginia. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several online and print publications including Lotus Blooms Journal, SaucyVox Review, Erosha, Literati Review, Carnelian and ERWA. She was the featured poet in the August 2003 issue of SaucyVox(dot)com.