My Beautiful Brilliant Mind (by Linnea Waters)

My Beautiful Brilliant Mind
by Linnea Waters

I put these on
Because even though
Just saying Goethe’s name
Is like an orgasm in my throat
And Ginsberg’s cacophonous word riot is rattling through my brain
Like a freight train jazz band symphony
And Frost I have an unbearable weakness for
Like the slow turning over every leaf walks in the woods with my grandfather
and the illusory safe haven of life
that I remember there
While Whitman
Just sends me back home
No illusions
Just brilliant lithograph truths
in waving fields under a clear sunlight
I put these on
Because
Even though
I know Hemingway can slide me across the hemispheres
In a saddle of worn sultry leather
And Shelley, Seuss and Silverstein can all tickle me
In just the right spots
And Paz, Neruda and Jiménez should only be read
in the original Español
to linger exquisite on your tongue and satisfy your soul
And I put these on
Because
Even though
Bukowski taut and mean and sharp
Damn
I could be the yang to his yin any day
And Carver
Well we all know some things
Just aren’t right
And Dorothy Parker would light up with me
On a davenport cocktail in hand
And we would ironically laugh smiling in our twisted ways
And I put these on
Because
I have Emily
my strange twin sister
Who I’m not always sure I like
oft leaving me breathless and puzzled
But to whom I have cling’d my entire life
And Sylvia who perhaps I should just pretend
Hasn’t stayed up sharing sacred secrets
With me
All those frightened nights in the dark

I put these on
My dear friends
these black satin heels
and that black dress
which only a woman like me
with curves like these
has the finesse to fill
Because
my beautiful brilliant mind
Just
won’t get me fucked tonight

* * *

Linnea’s bio:

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I don’t know (by Linnea Waters)

I don’t know
by Linnea Waters

I don’t know
How to fix the leaky pipe in the basement
Or start the snowplow
Or solve most of my son’s math
For that matter
I don’t know why Rome fell
Or the Cold War started
Or why the sky is actually blue
But I do know
Why a mother weeps after giving birth
And women like to talk in whispers
And why men watch  when I walk by
And why they are weak when their cock is in my mouth
And why their silky salty skin tastes good on my tongue
And I don’t know why you left so many times
Or why I took you back
But I do know
Why I feel  alive when my hands are in the blackest soil
And why I like the warm rain running down my back
And the pungent smell of pine and leaves
Rising from the forest floor
In the wakening spring
And why I miss the smell of creosote
In the desert
After the storm
And I don’t know why
You couldn’t love me more
And what I did that was so wrong
But I do know why
I still take my meds with wine every night
And why the cold steel of the razor
On my skin tasted like freedom
And why I want to be called Mommy
For the rest of my life
And I know
Why Ophelia bobbed her way off the scene
And Dorothy watched the bluebirds fly
And I most definitely know
Why the caged bird sings
And Mary is the most sacred saint
And why
No man will ever hurt me again
The way
I  let you
hurt me

* * *

Linnea’s bio:

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