Charlene (1976)

Charlene (1976)  
   
the scent of moonlight was trapped in my nostrils when    
   
chortles of the cockcrow overflowed from my ears and drowned my eyes announcing another chance    
   
a mere man-child    
my lanky limbs begged the aching between my legs to cease    
but I couldn't help but think about her    
   
she was licorice and smelled of nutmeg    
   
breakfast was calling    
   
my grandmother would pulverize tablespoons    
of charcoaled beans    
so's they'd simmer into liquid midnight    
   
there was cornbread    
honey toned like my grandma Lina    
Bacon    
eggs  if the chickens were layin' right    
   
but I loved my sips of coffee best    
slurping her in    
her texture warm and wet    
echoes of a Carolina blossom    
   
she became my tutor    
and I learned to slowly savor    
the notes of bull grapes and    
juniper and    
oak skirted in Spanish moss      
   
my first kiss tasted like coffee    
   
now coffee tastes like my first kiss    
   
Mornin' comes    
   
And I still ache like a boy.