David E. Patton


Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time
Two ladies were arrested
For kissing in public
This was in Sicily, a long, long place away.
They got themselves into a lot of trouble,
Maria and Rozanna, they made some
People very, very mad because ladies only kiss men
And men only kiss ladies. That is the way that God
made things
And God knows best
But I kiss you mammy
Paul kiss daddy.
Its not the same dear.
I am your mother
And your brother is daddy’s little boy. Its not the same.
But you kiss aunt Nancy mammy.
Your aunt Nancy is my sister, like you’re Paul’s sister.
Well how-come you kiss my god-mother?
Because we are good friends. We were little girl friends
When I was your size. We are good, good girlfriends.
Mr. Todd is daddy’s boyfriend.
No dear, men don’t have boyfriends. They are just
good friends
Unhum mammy, they are boy-friends
I saw them kissing.


All Night Long The Heated Souls

All night long the heated souls
Of boys on the hip hop floor
Rock the sweat of Thursday night
Into Friday’s ascending light
And when the last tune has played
They clap each other round the wrist
And leave with that lover’s glaze
Sparkling promises of long night lay
And what of I, what indeed
What of those like me
Who stand behind the cracked door
And watch what parade of men that flows
Then deep within a feeling call
Our selves, the cruelest fool of all.
But these calls are judgment quick
From the loneliness that we spent
To see our brother with their pride
While we behind the cracked door hide
Cherishing that which passes on by.


Angel of My Desiring
Angel of My Desiring

I wake to find you raining in your face
Our bedroom have known many storms
The maple outside kisses the window
Your thorns puncture the pillow
Why do you cry when the spirit of drought
Is in the wisdom land?
Black bellies swell, the rivers are dried
And ravens do not feed he who will be the next king.
You ware your love as a child in your belly
Your body is lean as a man in need of his water
In need of bread
I shall gather some sticks to fashion your wings
With oil from my skin will I smooth your prays
My sins remember will I hang in your hair
Go, show yourself in the wisdom land
Strike rain from the God‘s cheeks
The hidden prophets lay in wait beneath
The sand they wake in the sounding of your feet
Your lean body is leasing to the eye
But I have drunken my fill
And time will come to drink again
Go, show yourself in the wisdom land
Where pain holds its counsel
I shall bake you two cakes of mud and grass
To eat and give back to the land.


Voodoo Won't Work

Not if I sprinkled dried powdered heard of
Humming bird on his sleeping body
Would that man love me.
Not if I slept with his tobacco-color hair
Under my pillow and rub love oil in my right hand
And still, kept pieces of wood in my pocket
Would that man love me
Not nine lumps of starch, lumps of sugar,
Nine teaspoons of steel dust wet with jockey’s sweat,
Not nine ribbons, blue or red tired in a bag
Calling his name with each fold, nine begs hidden
Under a rug or behind a step or door
Would that man love me.
Not poetry sung between full moon and his bedroom window
Not me masquerading as his lover
Not Pepsi, cigarette,
Crest or calling his lone distance
Will make that man love me
Because that man loves himself more.


He Lay Asleep Upon The Bed

He lay asleep upon the bed
And I get up to walk the room.
There is silent about him
From foot to head
His form makes the bed
And I watch him
Now that all is said and done.
He gave himself easily
With a bit of hast
As we could not wait to disrobe
And make the love of longing.
In this dark room with a bit of light
From the half drawn shade
I see shadows
Caress and half hide him.
His long limbs are still
As I recall them wrapped
About me, and I smile.
I go back to bed and his warmth is there waiting
Sweet with his sable scent
Packed beneath the bed sheets.

-all poems gathered from his blog, Gay Black Poetry