Nikki Giovanni




Something to Be Said for Silence

there is something
to be said for silence
        it’s almost as sexual as moving
        your bowels

i wanted to be in love
when winter came
like a groundhog i would burrow
under the patchwork pieces
of your love
but the threads are slender
and they are being stretched

i guess it’s all right
to want to feel
though it’s better to really feel
and sometimes i wonder
did i ever love anyone

i like my house my job i gave up
my car
but i bought a new coat
and somewhere something is missing
        i do all the right things
maybe i’m just tired
maybe i’m just tired of being tired
i feel sometimes so inert
and laws of motion being what they are
i feel we won’t feel again

it’s all right with me
if you want to love
it’s all right with me if you don’t

my silence is at least
as sexy as your love
and twice as easy
to take