Poem by Susan Castillo (USA/UK) Published in The Ofi Press issue 45
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Until Then: A Conversation with My Body I’ve served you pretty well so far. We’ve climbed trees and dug in earth, puckered lips and kissed sweet boys, tasted ice cream, heard the wind roar, and
danced, danced, danced.
I’ve joined you closest to another skin on skin, heart on heart, pulsing softly breaths united in crimson velvet spirals of sparks. Oh how we
danced, danced, danced.
I’ve borne your children, suckled, them. Silver stretchmarks stipple belly, thighs, and breasts. Still, amid it all we
danced, danced, danced.
Now the dark is gently falling. Soon we’ll be cloaked in silence and soft earth. But till the night comes calling, calling, you and I will
dance, dance, dance. |
Susan Castillo Street is a Louisiana expatriate and academic who lives in the Sussex countryside. She is Harriet Beecher Stowe Professor Emeritus, King’s College, University of London, and has published two collections of poems, The Candlewoman's Trade (Diehard Press, 2003) and Abiding Chemistry, (Aldrich Press, 2015). Her poems have appeared in The Missing Slate, The Stare’s Nest, Ink Sweat & Tears, Nutshells and Nuggets, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Snakeskin, Literature Today, York Mix and other reviews. She is a member of three poetry groups: 52, Goat, and High Wealden Poets.
Image: 'Beam Me' by Martin Fisch.