I have never

peeled a grape with my teeth
and fed it to a waiting potentate.

I have never filled my hands with honey
and walked till all the people craving sweetness
in the world flocked to me.

I have never danced in veils on the roof at midnight.
I have never eaten a full moon.

I have never grieved the deaths of distant stars
or stared a rattlesnake down.
I have never seen a ghost.

I have never craved a whole watermelon
or waded for miles in a cold creek in a Southern state.

I have never made a killing.

I have never bathed in milk or mud
or had an exfoliating body scrub.

I have never prayed for the same blessing twice.

I have never swum across a lake
and lain warming in the sun on the farther shore.

I have never touched a stranger's face.

 

Poems by Lisa Sitkin: