Contrast

          I want to relax, but it's April.
My students cross and un-

          Cross bare legs as if one must
Take a turn holding the other

          Down. Earth opens into 18
Stains, each limb, every stem,

          Battling the next, all erect
Enough to win. I live with

          A disease instead of a lover.
We take turns doing bad things

          To my body. We share a house
But do not speak. Both eat

          What I feed. Spring is a leg
And can't be covered. One day,

          I was born. That was long ago.

Copyright © 2009 Jericho Brown All rights reserved
from Copper Nickel
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission