I left my heart in Dupree

By Amy Lipman

Most of the Drive there was Spent in Darkness

You and he and us and they
Are all just
One big foot
A shot star
A welfare family’s check


We were Cleaning out the Barn all Day, and I Realized I was in love with him

I am a long process
An iceberg
A sailboat
No wind in the storm

Later, I was thinking about Why Other ones Haven’t worked Out

A lot of men have held me
But they couldn't hold me
Who wants a writhing newborn
Skin once shrunken, stretched and glowing

I.

If it all ends in a warm room
I’ll be happy I felt the cold

II.

Lightning strikes in so many places
And I’m never at the right one

If I had been taller-
I’m never hiding again,
You would have seen me
Filled me with light
Grabbed on for life


Poems inspired by Orville
“We didn’t have cathedrals. The sky was our cathedral.”

III.

We’re not happy, but we’re living
In a place unfit for earth
Too small for me
To hold a child through his years
Have you ever felt too small
Boy, you might have been a man
If you’d not passed away
Our lord could pick us up
If we’d not slipped away

IV.

Women start as mothers
End as fathers
Attribute the wealth you saved for yourself
To sparks and stars up in arms
And paid someone to do the washing
When daddy was away
And when we are forgiven
We’ll bless the trees for bringing rain
We’ll keep changing our names
And charting new blood
We’ll discover, discover alone
If creation’s ever ending

V.

What could I bring
That you’d like to receive
I can wipe your nose
And paint
And run with you
And your house will still stand on two poles
Not to dodge a flood
But to heighten, fatten up
And pray for rain

“Everyone has a red road. Everyone is a turtle.” –Ray Dupris

Clarissa

Clarissa, get your lunch
It’s hot outside today
I’m running how a falcon tries to fly
Who’s still got God-given unclipped wings
Who doesn’t know her lover is crippled and still flies near
Still sings, sings

And little girl
I see you now
I saw you then
When you were ten
But have a drink
From frozen streams
Conserve all of the water
Save up riches in your lungs
Nobody banks for you like I do
Save breath for when you need it
Nobody’s always only young
Save your weeping for an angel
And your laughter for the buried
Not for me, pale skin and barely here, the calm and burning
Just one of your memories
Meant for safekeeping


Little Boys on Reservations

Little boys on reservations
Are wolves
Never wolverines
Just fast and sharp
With adult teeth
Cries came from the field
Two runs and then a strike
That’s just how the game goes
I can’t pretend it’s right