I Love You, Love You Anyhow

By Cheryl Clarke

Can’t stand it cuz you put me down.
—Nina Simone, “I Put a Spell on You”

I could use a good ole R&B lyric
right about now to face this hard absence.
Only its terse verse can approximate
the testament.

Or the big arms of “these arms”
circling my wide waist
to close the space
after all the years
              of absence
these big arms
              once more
                     once more
to close the space.

I could use a good ole R&B lyric
right about now to face this hard absence.
Only its terse verse can approximate
the testament.

Source: Poetry (July/August 2024)