when you said you loved me
what did you do with it
after you didn't anymore
after the rain of love dried
after laughs
after baths
after toast & watermelon
after cups of water in the night
after morning smiles & phone calls
i know what i did with mine
i have a wall of pain painted
nigerian indigo,
created lyrics for a howlin' wolf,
fashioned a mask of brown sadness,
& in a midnight hour
buried love's corpse quietly
watching dry eyed
as the heart-red crypt slipped
peacefully deep into
the sea of my experiences
where the brackish-green, obsidian
sealed sepulcher shall sleep
untroubled by resurrection attempts
when you said you loved me
i never thought of it in the past tense
what did you do with it
after you didn't anymore
_________________
Kalamu ya Salaam – vocals Stephan Richter – clarinet Wolfi Schlick – reeds Frank Bruckner – guitar Mathis Mayer - cello Georg Janker - bass Michael Heilrath - bass Roland HH Biswurm - drums Recorded: June 14, 1998 – "ETA Theatre" Munich, Germany
—kalamu ya salaam