poems by bell hooks
1.
love go to my heart straight
beat beat
alive and more alive
oh time before word
and i can still remember
each touch
all every bit tenderness
only one pain
a cry to make it be
always endless bliss
2.
in love
there are no closed doors
each threshold
an invitation
to cross
take hold
take heart
and enter here
at this point
where truth
was once denied
3.
and how
she adores me
precious precious
sweet sweet
all favorite things
flesh that is my flesh
bone that is my bone
and we always be one
even at the moment
of heartbreak
surrender and separation
we know
times come again
eternal abiding love
another chance
seduced
she promises me
another chance
4.
in him
my twin likeness
all flresh a mirror
pentimento
palimpsest
all traces
seeds pressed
in flower beds
a diary of enchantment
his hands hold mine
keep me standing firm
ground my heart
the angel eye of love
stands guard
protects our union
we are too much one
too much each other
5.
when he bids me
separate go home
stop following behind
let there be
time without memory
all is loss
my soul gone
into numb nothingness
my body unable
to know or move from this strange
forbidden garden
he lures me here
where love
will not come again
6.
amid cornfields
cabbage rows
hot peppers
tall tomato vines
succulent ripe hearts wail
all order
neat in nature
living to give sustenance
for wounded spirits
wild asparagus
honeysuckle trails
hanging borders
eden all would abandon
to not be alone
even in paradise
i dream you are
coming love
to resurrect me
to save me from decay
and lead me home
7.
love is
no soldier of fortune
no assassin
on the prowls
talking unsuspecting hearts
each evil lurking here
takes any pleasing form
fallen angels
mock nitght
time's splendor
unmasking
each remembered
connecting trace
8.
oh love
a serpent to find
in loss keeps
abandoned angel
innocence
set loose
this side of paradise
binds the heart
with promises
just follow
he will guide
lead home
if only he can touch
sweet sacred flesh
if only he can make
secret never to be
seen wounds
if only she will promise
never to forget
if only she always
feels the pain
9.
inside dark rooms
no one sees wounds
raw open quiet places
where love leaves
no trace of remembered bliss
and no one hears
my heart calling
do not forsake me
one more time
10.
bluegrass waterfalls
lingering taste of starch
naked earth clay
damp dark digging
fishing worms wiggle
clear moonshine
dandelion splendor
an unending heat
small wonders
awaken such lovely soul
let sorrow loose
free the heart
in deep red
this is love's memory
a poultice held
next to flesh and wound
a balm to soothe
all pain
to press against hurt
11.
the first taste of death
wets my hunger
i need to live each moment
in that same closing of the eyes
that same ecstasy
let me lie here
in everlasting peace
in love's embrace
let me enter sleep
with dark midnight
as my witness
12.
after slow death love must clean house
choose memories to keep
and memories to let go
give each lamentation
an ear to hear
a heart to lay rest
let no soul forget
an eternity of desire awaits
13.
my first love
my backwoods man
comes smelling
of wild things
and too long time
apart from the living
armed with gun and game
he brings his lady tender
rabbit possum and coon
all sweet strong meat
aphrodisiacs to stand
against the end of innocence
14.
my daddy
don' love me no mo'
he takes his heavy hand
and hurted me
pain me to my heart
to let me know
i can be his brown sugar girl
no mo'
what happened here
what went wrong
how come
i am all same same
but my daddy change change
take his love away
leave my inside soul
cleared out blank empty
and me with no place
to go forget
15.
hold on
take my hand
let go
on the ride
race you downhill up hill
dust on dirt road
clinging
let me follow you
anyplace
in love
there is no end
we are glory
everywhere
in nature
a paradise surrounds us
wild tenderness
take hold
loose and let
our spirits soar
16.
big mama coming
bringing love so sweet
a foreign thing
bonbon prettypink yellow
and two shades of blue
come to seduce us silly
with pocketbook and pipe
pressed apron and slicked
back covered hair
take us all as we are
embracing bodies in folds of
dark warm woman flesh
this heaven-sent secret
odor of enchantment
17.
don't let
your loving
take too long
you may come
too late
and i'll be gone
don't let
fear
make you stray
don't wait
on heartbreak
to show the way
18.
my heart is burning
in this house
where i dreamed
in the dark
my deepest dreams
shrouded desire in shadows
places the dead used to know
upstairs long
little bed low
quilts from hand-me-downs
curtains hung with faded lace
the smell of tobacco
nightshade and morning cool
this scent love's memory
everything broken and on fire
19.
braided
tobacco leaves
twisted hung
time on the
loosening floor
time stripping
time drying
time turning
sheets of brown
time turning away
and all the time love
the smell of smoke
between us
20.
a palimpsest
of fire
your words
are fingers on my flesh
hands to take
my body
rising heat
touch not
the flame
of this too hot
heavy love
for it will turn
our world to ash
and make the heart
a grave
(21-50 poems will be next time)
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