"The Snuggle," A Poetry Post for Lovers

When you snuggle
up against your man
on a hot summer night,
the humidity of the
experience clings to your
skin and
wets down your sexy lingerie
so that it
sticks to you
like toilet paper
that you pick up
on the way
out of the bathroom
when you are
rushing off to work on
a
Monday.

Even if the
air is turned down
way way low,
so low that you have to
get the winter cover
and
wrap your free leg up
in it to
keep the chill off,
it still gets
too hot
curled up
next to your
good thing.

At some point
you start
praying that he
won't be offended if you
inch back to your
side and
breathe some
cool air
for a
few minutes.

And God forbid he
fall asleep with
one arm
wrapped all the way
around cause then you
have to lift up that arm,
creep off and
change your whole
outfit to get that
puddle of sweat
dried up from
under your arms and
around your rib cage.

You remember
all the movies you saw about
couples falling asleep in
perfect spoons and wonder
whether any woman in her
right mind still believes she can
sleep all night locked up under the
drool and deep snores of her
soul mate without having to
get up and recompose herself.

And after a few years,
maybe,
you are so glad that
with time
you both learn to
stay on your own sides
sometimes.

Staying on your
own side
sometimes.

That's romantic.

-T. D. James-Moss

"Valentine's Day Prayer," a Poetry Post

Dear God,

Thank you for
not letting me
shack up with that
dude
in the city that
promised me
flowers and
candy and
cheap movie tickets.

You know I was
tempted.

You know I was
home
thinking about how
all my friends were
making reservations at
fancy restaurants and
getting flowers at
work.

You know I was
jealous when my
ace boon coons were
invited to new countries
for the weekend.

You know I was
heartbroken over
not being able to
share in others'
heartbreak.

You know I was
almost drawn into
the idea of
what love was to the
masses.

You know.

Now, look at how
things have turned,
turned,
turned.

This Valentine's Day,
love means getting up early and
going to church as a
family.

Take out Chinese and
WWF on the PS3 with the
boy.

Getting to sit at home with a
headband imprint in my afro and
in favorite cotton pants
writing poems about
how glad I am that
I didn't give in to
an image...

a mirage.

I pray that
all my sisters see
love
differently.

See love that
sits beside them
at the hospital when they are down and out.

'Cause a sister is gone get sick.

See love that will
help them
ease down into a bath
when they've
been on their feet all day.

'Cause a sister is gone get tired.

See love that is
looking for them to be
okay,
looking for them to
come home,
looking for them
period.

'Cause a sister is gone be held up
sometimes.

And dear God,
help them to see love in You,
without which
NOBODY
can survive a Valentine
in this life.

'Cause a sister gets tired of
unconditional like the
seasons change on
favorite pairs of shoes.

Dear God,

Help us to be real with each other,
in love,
on this holiday.

Sincerely,

Your daughter,
the difficult one.

-T. D. James-Moss