AS SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK
i have never been fully domesticated
but i have been civilized
by women taught that the heart
is more than a muscle
a life drum whose function is
both physical blood pumping
and spiritual longing to be embraced
but love, ah love is a river
we may get wet
but we can never drink it all
love always flows on
more than we can ever swallow
no matter how thirsty
we claim to be
but i have been civilized
by women taught that the heart
is more than a muscle
a life drum whose function is
both physical blood pumping
and spiritual longing to be embraced
but love, ah love is a river
we may get wet
but we can never drink it all
love always flows on
more than we can ever swallow
no matter how thirsty
we claim to be
Share this column
Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2020 by Kalamu Ya Salaam, “AS SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK” from Cosmic Deputy, poetry and context 1968-2019 (University of New Orleans Press, 2020.) Poem reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.