Mrs. Alberta Cox
Rope
As if two girls were starting a fire
On all sides of my daughter,
She is set ablaze: the girls swing
Two clotheslines between them
As if they were goddesses
Holding two country roads
Leading to each other; neighbors
Surround her syncopated dance
As her seizure of heat begins
To flicker on the moonlit sidewalk—
Now, the ropes are white hot—
Her hair ignites in the upswing; her barrettes,
Like petrified butterflies, click on the off beat;
Her knees pump like she's walking on red coals;
Her arms flail as if she's calling the rain
To put her out; she jumps, she flirts
With the flame: she jumps backwards
And then turns forward,
Rocking in and out of the light,
Her hands testify around her head
Or pose on yet-to-be hips, till
Her fire snuffs out as a wind blows cold,
A car with flashing lights
Slows past, and the braids of our summer night
Surrender to gravity.
MacNolia
from prep. 1. Starting at (a particular place or time): As in, John
was from Chicago, but he played guitar straight from the Delta; he wore a blue
suit from Robert Hall's; his hair smelled like coconut; his breath, like mint
and bourbon; his hands felt like they were from slave times when he touched
me—hungry, stealthy, trembling. 2. Out of: He pulled a knot of bills from
his pocket, paid the man and we went upstairs. 3. Not near to or in contact
with: He smoked the weed, but, surprisingly, he kept it from me. He said it
would make me too self-conscious, and he wanted those feelings as far away from
us as possible; he said a good part of my beauty was that I wasn't conscious
of my beauty. Isn't that funny? So we drank Bloody Mothers (Hennessey and
tomato juice), which was hard to keep from him—he always did like to drink. 4.
Out of the control or authority of: I was released from my mama's house, from
dreams of hands holding me down, from the threat of hands not pulling me up,
from the man that knew me, but of whom I did not know; released from the
dimming of twilight, from the brightness of morning; from the love I thought
had to look like love; from the love I thought had to taste like love, from
the love I thought I had to love like love. 5. Out of the totality of: I came
from a family full of women; I came from a family full of believers; I came
from a pack of witches—I'm just waiting to conjure my powers; I came from a
legacy of lovers—I'm just waiting to seduce my seducer; I came from a pride
of proud women, and we take good care of our young. 6. As being other or
another than: He couldn't tell me from his mother; he couldn't tell me from
his sister; he couldn't tell me from the last woman he had before me, and why
should he—we're all the same woman. 7. With (some person, place, or thing)
as the instrument, maker, or source: Here's a note from my mother, and you
can take it as advice from me: A weak lover is more dangerous than a strong
enemy; if you're going to love someone, make sure you know where they're coming
from. 8. Because of: Becoming an alcoholic, learning to walk away, being a
good speller, being good in bed, falling in love—they all come from practice.
9. Outside or beyond the possibility of: In the room, he kept me from leaving
by keeping me curious; he kept me from drowning by holding my breath in his
mouth; yes, he kept me from leaving till the next day when he said Leave.
Then, he couldn't keep me from coming back.
(c) 2004 A. Van Jordan. All rights reserved.
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