Cheryl L. Clarke (born May 16, 1947), is an American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist.
BUTTONS
Cheryl Clarke
I wanted to unbutton every piece of your clothing
which was all buttons
from that silk shirt
down to the crotch of that gaberdine skirt.
My buttons too:
my jeans brass-button up,
my shirt has six shell buttons,
my camisole has three tiny ones.
This restaurant is in my way
when I want to be unbuttoned
and unbuttoning.
Can’t you tell?
To do it now.
To reach across the bread.
To start unbuttoning.
My arms so long.
My fingers faster than the eye and omnidextrous.
Now, ain’t that loving you?
======
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.