Poem (for Ema) - Nikki Giovanni

though i do wonder

why you intrigue me

i recognize that an exceptional moth

is always drawn

to an exceptional flame

you’re not at all what you appear

to be

though not so very different

i've not learned

the acceptable way of saying

you fascinate me

i’ve not even learned

how to say i like you

without frightening people

away

sometimes i see things

that aren’t really there

like warmth and kindness

when people are mean

but sometimes i see things

like fear and want to soothe it

or fatigue and want to share it

or love and want to receive it

is that weird

you think everyone is weird

though you’re not really hypocritical

you just practice not being

what you want to be

and fail to understand

how others would dare

to be otherwise

that’s weird to me

flames don’t flicker

forever

and moths are born to be burned

it’s an unusual way

to start a friendship

but nothing lasts forever

Habits - Nikki Giovanni

i haven’t written a poem in so long

i may have forgotten how

unless writing a poem

is like riding a bike

or swimming upstream

or loving you

it may be a habit that once acquired

is never lost

but you say i’m foolish

of course you love me

but being loved of course

is not the same as being loved because

or being loved despite

or being loved

if you love me why

do i feel so lonely

and why do i always wake up alone

and why am i practicing

not having you to love

i never loved you that way