I climb the steps to my room. Thinking of my bed, I unlock the door, though I meant to do something else. A Chinese girl, in purple, is by the window. She tells me the pictures in her head. I can barely see her. An African is a man burning in her memory. I look out the window. I try to open the window. It's hot. Outside, the landscape tries to escape the trees planted in it. I try again. The window won't open. The African is now making love to the Chinese girl. Is this a dream? Is she dreaming this or am I? Now, the Chinese girl says to me, "Remove the African, and I will show you how to open the window." Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAMPUS SONNET: RETURN - 1917 by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE TRASH MEN by CHARLES BUKOWSKI I COULD TAKE by HAYDEN CARRUTH TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE BLACK MAMMY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MONODY ON THE DEATH OF WILLIAM MARION REEDY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |