Marilyn Kallet was honored by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts as one of of the "Women Artists of Influence" on May 2, 2019. She read this poem for the event.
By Marilyn Kallet
I Want You Here
So badly my fingertips ache
roses droop against the thorns
the green light of the Garonne
stuns my eyes
I talk to dogs to my chair
listen at the neighbor’s door
The old stones of the village are too smooth
The stubble of your chin would do
I want you here so badly
I can taste your salt
I’ll find a place or two for your mouth
listen hard to your tongue
we’ll coo like mad doves
become ballads legends
climb to the centre ville
devour the first May cherries
pilgrims
at home in each other
beneath the blue sheet
of sky.
From the book The Love That Moves Me, Black Widow Press, 2013