In summer I want to be a woman
In summer I want to be a woman:
loose cotton, arms, the way love slips
cool beneath the voile; a woman who meets
the breezy mouth, forgetting zippers …
damp as cornsilk, hair, bees,
a woman who knows bare legs,
voice brown with sweat, web
of sandal and hammock, a woman
kneeling, bone to sun, unwrapping
like lace her one binding thread,
all air the cloudless taste of body
Mike Chrisman is retired, living primarily in Guatemala. Worked decades in the mental health field, Western Massachusetts, USA. Three kids, five grandkids. MFA UMass, Amherst. One published poetry book-with-ISBN. One book about the Bible on Kindle. Recently published in several small magazines.