Cheryl L. Clarke (born Washington DC, May 16, 1947), is an American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist.
I LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU ANYHOW
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.