Not the abrupt way, frozen
In the one glance of a painter’s frame,
Christ in the doorway pointing, Matthew’s face

Spirit and form; to every soul its shell;
Sounds their instruments—flute, double bass,
Trumpet, each instrument its plush-lined case,

That summer I learned Biblical Hebrew
with Christian women heaving themselves
toward ministry one brick building at a time.

As a girl, that’s how you made it
to first base. You didn’t kiss,
you were kissed.

Morning walking is like a hospital room
The getting up and feeling sorry for sleep
Putting my fat body into a cab and going to the hospital

When I hear sweet songs I think of you
I don’t know why, but I do
When I hear sweet songs I think of you

I am sorry I let you down
I was writing this poem
In the middle of everything

Today when I was walking 
I had a man tell me as he passed 
That I was a white bitch (he was white) 

It’s a lonely world
Hi everybody
It’s Dorothea, Dorothea Lasky

There’s a kind of transformation
That can happen on any day