my woman
A woman/ My woman (Birds)
I just found a WOMAN
She's that sweeeet little thing
I met her in the street, as ordinary, as common as it may sound
She was staring at the sun; such an odd thing for one to do
Was for me like a blinding sign that said: "it's her!"
Don't ask me why,
I still can't tell myself.
I just HAD to talk to her. I did. She smiled. I was doomed...
I just found a WOMAN
I won't say her name here, hell no!
Hers is not the kind of name that you blurt out anywhere, anyhow.
You have to draw it into your mouth, roll it under your tongue,
Simmmer it under your tongue, savor its taste;
Then usher it out,
Gently, like a prayer.
It's a complex art form; I think I'm starting to master it...
I just found a WOMAN
I think I'll love her the rest of my life.
I don't care if my "buds" laugh and call me roman-something-tic;
They make it sound like an insult, but I really don't mind:
I'm not one who thinks only with his stick
Who strouts around
Half-buttoned, zipper open
(You: "yo, what's up Doe?", he: "I just got me some...")
They still don't understand
Why it took me so long, funny how none of them notices
That they are all still searching... How sad...
To be lonely in the mist of so many...
We still hang out, they still talk loud
"Playa 'till we die!"- but the confidence is gone;
The empty stares and the pregnant silences say it all.
I just found a WOMAN
I brought her home to see my Moma.
Moma looked at her a long time, then at me, then burt into tears.
I said: "what's wrong Moma, ain't you happy for me?"
She smiled at me through her tears: "Oh, I am!
But I just realized
That you WAS my baby,
But now, my baby gon' have babies of his own..."
I just found a WOMAN
We went together to see my Pop.
He said to me: "boy, that's a fine woman you got, you's a man now
Soon, you gon' be a Pop too; now it ain't easy, believe me
You'll just have to hold on to her, hear me, son?
There'll be good times,
There'll also be very bad ones."
I noticed how old Pop had grown since he left us...
I just found a WOMAN
I sure hope she found me too
We will try to build our love nest on rock and live a long lifetime of bliss
We will try to be patient and understanding with each other
I will try to learn her and teach her me, BUT...
If it doesn't work out,
Because it still can, always,
I will try to rubb off her name from my heart
With the sand of time.
If I bleed in the process, well... too bad.
That's the price to pay and I know it
I will just tell myself for consolation:
"I found a woman, yes I did find a good woman,
But truly she just wasn't really MY woman, you know."
Stanislas Bidossessi Sodonon
Poem taken from the project:
"To all those places I've never been..."
1999
