Strut and wiggle,

Shameless gal.

Wouldn’t no good fellow

Be your pal.

Hear dat music. . . .

Jungle night.

Hear dat music. . . .

And the moon was white.

Sing your Blues song,

Pretty baby.

You want lovin’

And you don’t mean maybe.

Jungle lover. . . .

Night black boy. . . .

Two against the moon

And the moon was joy.

Strut and wiggle,

Shameless Nan.

Wouldn’t no good fellow

Be your man

In the beginning, there was your mouth:
soft rose, rose murmur, murmured breath, a warm

cardinal wind that drew my needle north.
Magnetic flux, the press of form to form. 

In the beginning, there was your mouth—
the trailhead, the pathhead faintly opened,

the canyon, river-carved, farther south,
and ahead: the field, the direction chosen.

In the beginning, there was your mouth,
a sky full of stars, raked or raking, clock-

wise or west, and in the close or mammoth 
matter, my heart’s red muscle, knocked and knocked.

In the beginning, there was your mouth,
And nothing since but what the earth bears out.

And in the beginning,

God gave your body

a checklist:

Keep your heart

on beat

and your lungs

dancing with oxygen,

not passive to air.

Make sure

the path of your blood

slows down

for checkpoints

and avoids

bumps

in the road.

Train your nerves

to keep a balanced pace

and stay within

the lines

of steady flow.

Push forward

without putting

too much

pressure

on movement.

Remember

to return to water

when your spirit

and its frame

are in drought.

Treat your body

like a well-rounded planet

built for all seasons,

or pretend you are

an adaptable star:

Float in the black

and stay there

if you need to,

save some light

for yourself.

In other words,

rest like the sun does:

Schedule some time

to stay out of sight

when too many people

praise warm energy.

Keep in mind

all of these things

when depression

tells you

nothing is working.

Keep in mind

all of these things

when it tells you

there is no

invisible force

connecting us,

when your veins

are stopped by blood clots,

when your bones are dry,

and the water

is too quick to boil.

Keep in mind

all of these things

when it tells you

that the soul is like the body:

Made to be broken,

open to deterioration

and doubt. Yes,

keep in mind

all of these things

and remember:

Even when it

seems like

the clock isn’t ticking,

you were made perfectly

for this moment

in time.