A Poem From "WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?"

The Night Before

A glorious red balloon
it's how he told me
my mouth felt.

The night before he left
he stared at flesh -
no words exchanged
he wanted me to think
kissing was good, and
took his fingers, closed
my eyelids, told me
“It was alright to breathe.”

Wondered if men gave
out candy here?

The wrong he did was so...
casual for him -
as if he took apart another
puzzle - so singular -

People say birds are exotic.
He compared me to a bird.
Wondered if I could have flown?

A bird twists silently out from
its nest of twigs.

My body settled into summer.
Birds gathered at a feeder.
I feel stillness all so ordinary,
suddenly you are naked -
thinking, the entire
world sees you pass

It is morning and I am again,
alone.

I think of how birds
flew - out there, in the open.

Nancy Duci Denofio
From What Brought You Here? published 2010
by Dystenium http://nancyducidenofio.limitededitions.com
page 16 - 17

WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?

What Brought You Here?

US Pennies tossed into dry fountains
no choice between soup or potatoes
no chance to catch polio.
The unknown enemy, wears torn
uniforms soaked in another color.

You dance to music as if survival were
a passing tune, never sharing stories,
crouched down, scrubbing floors -
a toothbrush. . .and what brought
you here Sergeant?

Smoke a cigarette at twelve, two
drags and laughing over Miss Monroe’s
chest, so tomorrow we shall cry over
death, run out of smokes and write
a letter home to Mama.

We still dance in silence
I’ll change the music at
the rec hall,
a different kind of harmony.

Nancy Duci Denofio
from "What Brought You Here?" published 2010
by Dystenium page 1