Look out boy
these hips are coming through!
These hips'll knock you off your feet
if you don't make room for them to move.
These hips sway
these hips sashay
these ain't no size 3 1/2 slim Brooke Shields
teenage boy hypocritical hips--
these hips are woman hips!
These hips are wide
these hips hypnotize
these hips fill a skirt
the way the wind fills a sail.
These hips have chutzpah
they think they can change the whole world!
When I take these hips out
for a walk on the street
and the sun is shining
and my bones are gleaming
I place my hands on these two hips
and let them speak the truth.

©2000 Lesléa Newman
 

First Woman

First Woman
stood behind me
lifting a kimono to my shoulders
and I was the sky
with blue cranes gliding
to my feet

First Woman
lay above me
face full as the moon
casting shadows of light
across my breasts and belly
with her eyes

First Woman
asleep beside me
arms around my waist
like a tight silk sash
as I listen to her breath
falling all around me like snow

A black plastic garbage bag
shiny as a pair of patent leather pumps
gleaming like a chunk of midnight
in the middle of the day
smooth as an onyx ring
on a young girl's finger
sleek as the wing of a crow
or the belly of a snake
slithering through the grass
oh what good are these words
that can make anything pretty
even a black plastic garbage bag
wrapped around a woman
whose black eyes shone like patent leather
whose black hair gleamed like onyx
whose black skin was sleek
as the wing of a crow
or the belly of a snake
before three white cops
beat her    bruised her     battered her
and left her broken
and bleeding body
in a black plastic garbage bag
never to walk the streets again
stunning as a chunk of midnight
in the middle of the day

©2000 Lesléa Newman
 

Tomatoes

plump
round
juicy
solid
firm
fleshy
meaty
tender
succulent
sweet
sun-ripened
mouth-watering
deliciousness
dripping
down
my
chin
oh I love
Big Girls