Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie by Maya Angelou

They Went Home
    They went home and told their wives,
    Â Â that never once in all their lives,
    Â Â had they known a girl like me,
    But … They went home.
    They said my house was licking clean,
    Â Â no word I spoke was ever mean,
    Â Â I had an air of mystery,
    But … They went home.
    My praises were on all men’s lips,
    Â Â they liked my smile, my wit, my hips,
    Â Â they’d spend one night, or two or three.
    But …
The Gamut
    Soft you day, be velvet soft,
    Â Â My true love approaches,
    Look you bright, you dusty sun,
    Â Â Array your golden coaches.
    Â Â Soft you wind, be soft as silk
    My true love is speaking.
    Â Â Hold you birds, your silver throats,
    His golden voice I’m seeking.
    Come you death, in haste, do come
    Â Â My shroud of black be weaving,
    Quiet my heart, be deathly quiet,
    Â Â My true love is leaving.
A Zorro Man
    Here
    in the wombed room
    silk purple drapes
    flash a light as subtle
    as your hands before
    love-making
    Here
    in the covered lens
    I catch a
    clitoral image of
    your general inhabitation
    long and like a
    late dawn in winter
    Here
    this clean mirror
    traps me unwilling
    in a gone time
    when I was love
    and you were booted and brave
    and trembling for me.
To a Man
    My man is
    Black Golden Amber
    Changing.
    Warm mouths of Brandy Fine
    Cautious sunlight on a patterned rug
    Coughing laughter, rocked on a whorl of French tobacco
    Graceful turns on woolen stilts
    Secretive?
    A cat’s eye.
    Southern. Plump and tender with navy bean sullenness
    And did I say “Tender”?
    The gentleness
    A big cat stalks through stubborn bush
    And did I mention “Amber”?
    The heatless fire consuming itself.
    Again. Anew. Into ever neverlessness.
    My man is Amber
    Changing
    Always into itself
    New. Now New.
    Still itself.
    Still.
Late October
    Carefully
    the leaves of autumn
    sprinkle down the tinny
    sound of little dyings
    and skies sated
    of ruddy sunsets
    of roseate dawns
    roil ceaselessly in
    cobweb greys and turn
    to black
    for comfort.
    Only lovers
    see the fall
    a signal end to endings
    a gruffish gesture alerting
    those who will not be alarmed
    that we begin to stop
    in order simply
    to begin
    again.
No Loser, No Weeper
    â€œI hate to lose something,”
    Â Â then she bent her head
    â€œeven a dime, I wish I was dead.
    I can’t explain it. No more to be said.
    Cept I hate to lose something.”
    â€œI lost a doll once and cried for a week.
    She could open her eyes, and do all but speak.
    I believe she was took, by some doll-snatching-sneak
    I tell you, I hate to lose something.”
    â€œA watch of mine once, got up and walked away.
    It had twelve numbers on it and for the time of day.
    I’ll never forget it and all I can say
    Is I really hate to lose something.”
    â€œNow if I felt that way bout a watch and a toy,
    What you think I feel bout my lover-boy?
    I ain’t threatening you madam, but he is my evening’s joy.
    And I mean I really hate to lose something.”
When You Come to Me
    Â Â When you come to me, unbidden,
    Beckoning me
    Â Â To long-ago rooms,
    Where memories lie.
    Â Â Offering me, as to a child, an attic,
    Gatherings of days too few.
    Â Â Baubles of stolen kisses.
    Trinkets of borrowed loves.
    Â Â Trunks of secret words,
    Â Â Â Â Â Â I CRY.
Remembering
    Soft grey ghosts crawl up my sleeve
    to peer into my eyes
    while I within deny their threats
    and answer them with lies.
    Mushlike memories perform
    a ritual on my lips
    I lie in stolid hopelessness
    and they lay my soul in strips.
In a Time
    In a time of secret wooing
    Today prepares tomorrow’s ruin
    Left knows not what right is doing
    My heart is torn asunder.
    In a time of furtive sighs
    Sweet hellos and sad goodbyes
    Half-truths told and entire lies
    My conscience echoes thunder
    In a time when kingdoms come
    Joy is brief as summer’s fun
    Happiness, its race has