It's just poetry, it won't bite

Making Movies


04.11.13 Posted in words to linger on by

Erren Geraud Kelly’s work has been featured in more than 80 publications including Carcinogenic Poetry, Poetry Salzburg, The Medulla Review, The Penwood Review, Convergence, and other print and online publications. He received his BA in English, creative writing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He is also the author of the chapbook “Disturbing the Peace” from NightBallet Press. Erren lives in Chicago.

Making Movies
By Erren Geraud Kelly

she looked like she could’ve been 
a movie star
or a character from a dire straits

song (she had that kind of body)
walking on sugar white beaches
in florida
wearing a bathing suit
that flattered her
i thought about hitting her up
once
but the redneck in her
wouldn’t let her love brothas
maybe her mother had something
to do with it?
her mama was too busy
letting men in and
out of her bed to
be a parent
so, michelle
found love in rock songs
instead
michelle might’ve been named
after a beatles song
but bonnie raitt’s blues
(before bonnie sobered up)
lived in her blood
four months michelle and i
worked together
delivering the college newspaper
at lsu
our van always running on heavy fuel
i didn’t say a word
i was getting over a broken heart
and trying to buy into
the white man’s myth
of the white woman
as the sacred flower of womanhood

so, i just did my job

but one day at work
i just said “fuck it”
and finally got the courage
to talk to her
michelle responded and never stopped talking
her puppy dog eyes
became even sadder
whenever she saw someone
walking with a dog around campus
michelle wanted a dog, too
the tomboy in her liked the chicago bulls
and she looked like
she could’ve knocked one
out the park for the white sox
without effort
she hated hard rock and heavy metal
thought rap was pointless machismo
hollow as a bullet wound
women like her, you thank god 
for
women like her are the reason
i love females
i could care less nearly 20 years
later, if she doesn’t think of me
i won’t cry if she still doesn’t
love brothas
i just wonder if whenever she hears
a dire straits song
does she reach back for
yesterday
or does she leave her
pain back in the bottle
like bonnie raitt
did?



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