Ex-Lovers and Kittens #1
it’s another Sunday in January
the devil is beating his wife
rain falls on sunny bricks
I am still drunk from last night
the hangover is for now, postponed
as I wander
half-awake
questioning introspection
the earth is for now washed clean
in dull grey-green Diebenkorn shades
the eaves are filled with finches
camellias tipped with pearls of translucence
we shine together in the sun that rises
midlife is not a crisis
it’s a turning point
I start drinking early
dozing naked in the hot tub
surrounded by birdsong, my cigarettes
my cats, my memories
my regrets, your ghost
each sensation transmits a physical
stimulus to perception
my lack of articulation sings its own sweet song
silence says more
life is a draft in process
I am not the ice queen that you think I am
with my phone in the kitchen
my mind is allowed to wander
into coruscating chronicles and
oneric flashbacks
finding the ordinary extraordinary
the air between me and the sky is set afire
everything is nothing
nothing is everything
expectations are disappointments
in advance
the cats yawn, the cats stretch
I drink my whiskey
so, what does all this mean?
today will never happen again
Thinning Out Trees
you were nicer when you were poor
but this doesn’t matter
my brain turns off
my body turns on
what does liking matter?
you like to call me Queenie
we scorch the entire
morning
in my old bedroom at mom’s
we fuck our way through
the morning news
the tree trimmers come
and go
allowing in a lot more light
we bicker over morning coffee
you ask me for an apology
I just take off my clothes
you love my scarlet letter
but you don’t get it
you are not the first man to call me whore
I escape your upper arm
be careful, be careful
I’m always left invisibly blistered
Nancy Patrice Davenport is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area. She lives in San Mateo with three cats.
Nancy’s poems are widely published in various journals and anthologies, and have been translated into many different languages. Nancy’s “JUNE 2 RETROGRADE MINDFULNESS” poem was nominated for the 2016 Best of Net.
Nancy’s first chapbook, LA BRIZNA, was published in 2014 by Bookgirl Press. A full-length book of poems, SMOKING IN MOM’S GARAGE, was published in 2018 by Red Alice Press. Nancy’s latest book, Nothing and Too Much to Talk About, is available from Roadside Press.
