Broken Things
BY TAYLOR MALI
If I'm attracted to a woman
chances are she's a dancer
and moves with a studied grace,
owns a dog, struggles
with some sort of eating disorder,
is a smoker, or has been raped
at least once in her life.
I've spent a lifetime telling myself
this does not make me ugly
but a lover of beautiful broken things
be they a little dangerous
or just lonely.
Needless to say, any combination
and I am likely to fall in love,
heart under heels.
Which means I fall in love a lot,
such combinations being as likely
as they are tragic, as common
as the bent and broken spokes
on rainy days of all the blown out
umbrellas abandoned in the trash.
Because they cause each other.
The dancer smokes to keep from eating,
or studies and covets her dog's sheer love
of movement, lies with her at night
and whispers I will die before
I let someone hurt you again.
If I'm attracted to a woman
chances are she's a dancer
and moves with a studied grace,
owns a dog, struggles
with some sort of eating disorder,
is a smoker, or has been raped
at least once in her life.
I've spent a lifetime telling myself
this does not make me ugly
but a lover of beautiful broken things
be they a little dangerous
or just lonely.
Needless to say, any combination
and I am likely to fall in love,
heart under heels.
Which means I fall in love a lot,
such combinations being as likely
as they are tragic, as common
as the bent and broken spokes
on rainy days of all the blown out
umbrellas abandoned in the trash.
Because they cause each other.
The dancer smokes to keep from eating,
or studies and covets her dog's sheer love
of movement, lies with her at night
and whispers I will die before
I let someone hurt you again.
TAYLOR MALI's second book of poems, The Last Time As We Are, was published by Write Bloody in September 2009. He was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. His work has appeared in anthologies and other publications including The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, The Idiot’s Guide to Slam Poetry, Spoken Word Revolution, The Tampa Review, The Underwood Review, Taj Mahal Review, Cadillac Cicatrix, Spindle, The Whatever Literary Journal, and Paddlefish.