When Angels Speak of Love Read online

  Also by Bell Hooks

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  Rock My Soul

  Communion: The Female Search for Love

  Salvation: Black People and Love

  Where We Stand: Class Matters

  Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center

  All About Love: New Visions

  Happy to Be Nappy by bell hooks and Chris Raschka

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2007 by Gloria Watkins

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information address Atria Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  hooks, bell.

  When angels speak of love : poems / by bell hooks.—1st Atria Books hardcover ed.

  p. cm.

  1. Love poetry. 2. African Americans—Poetry. I. Title.

  PS35608.O594W47 2007

  811’.54—dc22

  2006049882

  ISBN-10: 1-4165-3823-2

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3823-3

  ATRIA BOOKS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Designed by Jaime Putorti

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

  http://www.SimonSays.com

  for angels who go before,

  making ready the way—

  The angels are so enamored of the language that is spoken in heaven, that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether there may be any who understand it or not.

  —RALPH WALDO EMERSON

  1.

  love go to my heart straight

  beat beat

  alive and more alive

  oh time before words

  and i can still remember

  each touch

  all every bit tenderness

  only one pain

  a cry to make it be

  always endless bliss

  2.

  in love

  there are no closed doors

  each threshold

  an invitation

  to cross

  take hold

  take heart

  and enter here

  at this point

  where truth

  was once denied

  3.

  and how

  she adores me

  precious precious

  sweet sweet

  all favorite things

  flesh that is my flesh

  bone that is my bone

  and we always be one

  even at the moment

  of heartbreak

  surrender and separation

  we know

  times come again

  eternal abiding love

  another chance

  seduced

  she promises me

  another chance

  4.

  in him

  my twin likeness

  all flesh a mirror

  pentimento

  palimpsest

  all traces

  seeds pressed

  in flower beds

  a diary of enchantment

  his hands hold mine

  keep me standing firm

  ground my heart

  the angel eye of love

  stands guard

  protects our union

  we are too much one

  too much each other

  5.

  when he bids me

  separate

  go home

  stop following behind

  let there be

  time without memory

  all is loss

  my soul gone

  into numb nothingness

  my body unable

  to know or move

  from this strange

  forbidden garden

  he lures me here

  where love

  will not come again

  6.

  amid cornfields

  cabbage rows

  hot peppers

  tall tomato vines

  succulent ripe hearts wail

  all order

  neat in nature

  living to give sustenance

  for wounded spirits

  wild asparagus

  honeysuckle trails

  hanging borders

  eden all would abandon

  to not be alone

  even in paradise

  i dream you are

  coming love

  to resurrect me

  to save me from decay

  and lead me home

  7.

  love is

  no soldier of fortune

  no assassin

  on the prowl

  stalking unsuspecting hearts

  each evil lurking here

  takes any pleasing form

  fallen angels

  mock nighttime’s splendor

  unmasking

  each remembered

  connecting trace

  8.

  oh love

  a serpent to find

  in loss keeps

  abandoned angel

  innocence

  set loose

  this side of paradise

  binds the heart

  with promises

  just follow

  he will guide

  lead home

  if only he can touch

  sweet sacred flesh

  if only he can make

  secret never to be

  seen wounds

  if only she will promise

  never to forget

  if only she always

  feels the pain

  9.

  inside dark rooms

  no one sees wounds

  raw open quiet places

  where love leaves

  no trace of remembered bliss

  and no one hears

  my heart calling

  do not forsake me

  one more time

  10.

  bluegrass waterfalls

  lingering taste of starch

  naked earth clay

  damp dark digging

  fishing worms wiggle

  clear moonshine

  dandelion splendor

  an unending heat

  small wonders

  awaken such lovely soul

  let sorrow loose

  free the heart

  in deep red

  this is love’s memory

  a poultice held

  next to flesh and wound

  a balm to soothe

  all pain

  to press against hurt

  11.

  the first taste of death

  wets my hunger

  i need to live each moment

  in that same closing of the eyes

  that same ecstasy

  let me lie here

  in everlasting peace

  in love’s embrace

  let me enter sleep

  with dark midnight

  as my witness

  12.

  after slow death

  love must clean house

  choose memories to keep

  and memories to let go

  give each lamentation

  an ear to hear

  a heart to lay rest

  let no soul forget

  an eternity of de
sire awaits

  13.

  my flrst love

  a backwoods man

  comes smelling

  of wild things

  and too long time

  apart from the living

  armed with gun and game

  he brings his lady tender

  rabbit possum and coon

  all sweet strong meat

  aphrodisiacs to stand

  against the end of innocence

  14.

  my daddy

  don’ love me no mo’

  he takes his heavy hand

  and hurted me

  pain me to my heart

  to let me know

  i can be his brown sugar girl

  no mo’

  what happen here

  what went wrong

  how come

  i am all same same

  but my daddy change change

  take his love away

  leave my inside soul

  cleared out blank empty

  and me with no place

  to go forget

  15.

  hold on

  take my hand

  let go

  on the ride

  race you down

  hill up hill

  dust on dirt road

  clinging

  let me follow you

  anyplace

  in love

  there is no end

  we are glory

  everywhere

  in nature

  a paradise surrounds us

  wild tenderness

  take hold

  loose and let

  our spirits soar

  16.

  big mama coming

  bringing love so sweet

  a foreign thing

  bonbon pretty

  pink yellow

  and two shades of blue

  come to seduce us silly

  with pocketbook and pipe

  pressed apron and slicked

  back covered hair

  take us all as we are

  embracing bodies in folds of

  dark warm woman flesh

  this heaven-sent secret

  odor of enchantment

  17.

  don’t let

  your loving

  take too long

  you may come

  too late

  and i’ll be gone

  don’t let

  fear

  make you stray

  don’t wait

  on heartbreak

  to show the way

  18.

  my heart is burning

  in this house

  where i dreamed

  in the dark

  my deepest dreams

  shrouded desire in shadows

  places the dead used to know

  upstairs long

  little bed low

  quilts from hand-me-downs

  curtains hung with faded lace

  the smell of tobacco

  nightshade and morning cool

  this scent love’s memory

  everything broken and on fire

  19.

  braided

  tobacco leaves

  twisted hung

  time on the

  loosening floor

  time stripping

  time drying

  time turning

  sheets of brown

  time turning away

  and all the time love

  the smell of smoke

  between us

  20.

  a palimpsest

  of flre

  your words

  are fingers on my flesh

  hands to take

  my body

  rising heat

  touch not

  the flame

  of this too hot

  heavy love

  for it will turn

  our world to ash

  and make the heart

  a grave

  21.

  dark midnight

  roaming

  seeking a

  shoot-and-cut passion

  a death

  to wound and bind us

  the assassin’s testimony

  i had to kill

  to lay bare

  the heart

  i had to kill

  to let go

  hold on

  be still

  eliminate love’s trace

  22.

  love ain’t got

  no messenger

  send death instead

  love don’t need

  no witness

  let the spirit testify

  ’cause it no matter

  life or no life

  strange heart or

  familiar beat

  whoever calling

  they don’t know

  how to say my name

  23.

  love in sweet morning

  love in the afternoon

  late-night love

  in between sheets

  terrors and nightmare

  love dreaming

  a second coming

  rescue resurrection

  love keeping me safe

  every day all day

  24.

  love don’t make no promises

  the heart cannot keep

  he offers kisses from the divine

  nighttime angels

  standing by my bed

  whispering in my sleep

  teaching me dream rhythm flight

  all the ways to move

  beyond life and death

  telling me sweet soul child

  only surrender

  love will not let you forget

  25.

  one cannot love

  cowboy boots

  red plaid vest

  white cotton ruffles

  and a holster with no gun

  one cannot love these

  slow killing things

  these blue memories

  one cannot love

  an image

  a dead likeness

  it will never give back

  the real you

  or let you see

  the inside heart

  26.

  let me be

  a witness to love

  stand on the outside

  and see tenderness

  unbidden

  kind words

  and a lover’s sweet touch

  let me be

  a witness to love

  see each sacrifice surrendered

  how patient and joined

  such open heart

  let me see and then believe

  27.

  no kind love

  would leave me here

  take away treasures

  strip me bare

  of all the soul

  holds dear

  forsake all just

  and fair due

  then flaunt

  its heady passion

  openly offering

  the heart’s allure

  only to seduce and

  then betray

  only i am not slain

  though fallen

  for love would never

  lead me here

  28.

  angels hear

  how she weeps

  in the night

  tenderly attend her woe

  each dark winged

  heavenly creature

  comes with thread in hand

  ready to mend

  this broken heart

  gathering bits and pieces

  every pain shattered fragment

  pierced anew

  love’s holy grace

  render each wound

  divine anguish

  29.

  love

  has heard

  my cry

  and shelters me

  not even fear

  of death

  or the
grave

  still my courage

  crush this yielding heart

  or make all yearning flee

  within me

  every closed door opens

  paradise enters

  grant lost souls

  solace and sanctuary

  30.

  oh love

  he tells me

  i don’t know

  can’t understand

  never think

  don’t know how

  only that

  there is intense connection

  strong binding

  abiding warmth

  oh love

  i come to you who know

  the way

  oh love

  i kneel down

  and press my face

  against the bosom of memory

  where i first yearned

  and knew then

  how to let my hunger speak

  31.

  love will not let me speak

  will not let me seek words to say

  how heavy my heart

  the way the weight of your body

  closes me down

  shuts the door

  take off your shirt

  hang your tie here

  just as you like to be

  all loose and free again

  let me dress you

  in a dark blue suit

  when you wear it

  i remember desire

  full and complete

  an intensity so hot

  i cannot find air

  here in this room

  where you

  do not come again

  to lie next to me

  after the

  heavy work is done

  32.

  even though

  she knows

  a terrorist comes

  she can bear witness

  can tell you by now

  we have been

  together

  our bodies