photo by Alex Lear
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