photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher
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A Little Bit Rain
It seemed this bicycle was faster
when I first started. Now the afterlife
is gaining on me, and every billboard I pass
has the same five words. I know
you’d like to know what they say, but
if you’re ever going to build up those quads,
you’ll need to enter this race yourself.
I even hired the Rockettes to adorn the finish line
with their legs. All for you. That’s how much
I love you. The moon used to be yellow,
but I painted it green for your green-loving eyes,
then left a pack of cigarettes and two aspirin
on the nightstand. Maybe don’t get so drunk
next time, okay? I like it when you do that thing
with your tongue. It makes me want to get
matching tattoos. We could translate our bodies
into a new language. Your mouth a little
bit summer. My mouth a little bit rain.
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Melissa Studdard’s most recent poetry collection is Dear Selection Committee. Her work has been featured by PBS, NPR, The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, and The Guardian and has garnered awards such as The Penn Review Poetry Prize, the Tom Howard Prize, and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America.
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Samantha Thompson, Back stage--Radio City Rockettes, oil on canvas, 2022
so energizing! so sparkling!
Posted by: Grace Cavalieri | April 30, 2023 at 10:50 AM
Wot larks, as joe Gargery says in great expectations! This larky poem is miscdef about great expectations!!
Posted by: Clarinda | April 30, 2023 at 12:00 PM
Love this one!
Especially this-- "the afterlife/is gaining on me"
Posted by: Kelli Russell Agodon | April 30, 2023 at 12:01 PM
this poem and post are perfection
Posted by: lally | April 30, 2023 at 12:04 PM
Quintessential Studdard! Fantastic and fantastical.
And thanks for the reminder to enter the race in delight!
Posted by: Christopher Theofanidis | April 30, 2023 at 12:13 PM
This is a forever poem. The love within outruns anything in its path.
Posted by: Lois P Jones | April 30, 2023 at 01:45 PM
Wonderful art, as usual, and here's to the Rockettes and the five words that appear on every billboard along the way to the afterlife in a new language and mutual tatoos. In my own case the billboards have six words: "Are you dying for a smoke?"
Posted by: David Lehman | April 30, 2023 at 02:01 PM
Smart, wonderful, whimsical poem! Another great pick Terence! And Melissa, if you're out there, I'm so glad I've found your work through this site, and will certainly look for more!
Posted by: Don Berger | April 30, 2023 at 02:30 PM
Don: Thanks for the comment, mon ami.
Posted by: Terence Winch | April 30, 2023 at 02:32 PM
Terrific poem!
Posted by: Susan Campbell | April 30, 2023 at 10:05 PM
Excellent! Yes, "the afterlife is gaining on me" is one of those 'I wish I'd written that' things . . . Brilliant!
Posted by: Martin Stannard | May 01, 2023 at 07:12 AM
Don, yes, I'm here and so very grateful to all of you for these wonderful comments and to Terence and David for sharing the poem. Thanks to Conduit too for first publishing "A Little Bit Rain." Good luck in the race, everyone! I know we can win. ;)
Posted by: Melissa Studdard | May 01, 2023 at 02:24 PM
Melissa Studdard ROCKS!
Posted by: Cindy Sostchen-Hochman | May 06, 2023 at 09:34 AM
lovely and loving !!!!
Posted by: Jack Skelley | May 06, 2023 at 10:20 AM