Quite Excellent

Anne Stevenson
“The Victory”

I thought you were my victory
though you cut me like a knife
when I brought you out of my body
into your life.

Tiny antagonist, gory,
blue as a bruise. The stains
of your cloud of glory
bled from my veins.

How can you dare, blind thing,
blank insect eyes?
You barb the air. You sting
with bladed cries.

Snail. Scary knot of desires.
Hungry snarl. Small son.
Why do I have to love you?
How have you won?

Marilyn Nelson
“Asparagus”

He taught me how to slurp asparagus:
You hold it in your fingers, eat the stem
by inches to the tender terminus,
then close your eyes and suck in the sweet gem.
First, cook it in its own delicious steam,
sauté breadcrumbs in butter separately,
combine, eat slowly. As he ate, a gleam
in his eyes twinkled with such jeu d'esprit,
it made me drunk with longing. In my chair
amid our laughing, slurping dinner guests,
I felt as smug as a new billionaire,
not jealous, not rejected, not depressed,
as almost obscene, almost a debauché,
he slurped asparagus, and winked at me.

Video: https://youtu.be/z90PMOedR3Y