David Francis
David Francis is a singer-songwriter and poet based in New York. He is
currently (July 2009) on a poetry and music tour of England, and will be
recording a new album there. Verse has appeared in US and UK poetry
magazines. In 2007 David released "Poems," a CD of poems with music. His
essay on poetry and song lyrics appears in NycBigCityLit.
http://www.cdbaby.com/all/davidfrancis
The Reckoning
I expected the ice to melt
but in some other season.
I envisioned the door to push
on some day in the future.
I saw an older man walking down
the autumnal road to the Gulf.
I dreamed of the flags on the ships
setting off from port.
I saw this traveler settling down
to a life of wandering.
I knew he was haunted but
with the safety net of distance.
I assumed he could start again
ensconced in a second wind.
I thought he could live out of a
suitcase not covered in dust.
I felt he would leave behind
stubs of yellowed paper.
I guessed that the scandal would be
like the carcass of the locust.
I reckoned that bitter memories
would have become senile.
I figured that his enemies
would have gone that way too.
The Conch
I like your style,
I like your lips—
but is it just a memory?
Your talent for combining clothes
is real—your lips are there:
but your smile is rare.
The way you move
like a wildflower wafted
by a spring breeze—a real groove!
Your profile is more
delicate and pleasing
than others in sight.
Above all, your voice;
this is your best feature—
all others are noise.
But the tone has changed
to hesitant—business
over the phone.
It comes and goes.
It surges like blood.
Some lovers are too proud.
And what else?
I would like to say,
"Hear of my loneliness
as you would put your ear
to a conch
that delivered the goods."