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MY LOVER'S NAME
http://www.maverickmagazine.com/articles/231/1/MY-LOVERS-NAME/Page1.html
Taiyon Coleman
Taiyon Coleman is a member of Cave Canem, a national workshop for African-American poets, where she worked with Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eady, Elizabeth Alexander, Nikky Finney, Michael Harper, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Sonia Sanchez. Her work has appeared in Ethos, Knotgrass, Sketch, Cave Canem Anthology IV and V, DrumVoices Revue, Sauti Mpya, Words Will Heal the Wound: A Celebration of Community Through Poetry CD Volume II, Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, and A View from the Loft. Recently, Taiyon was a featured reader with poet Nikki Giovanni in Chicago at the Hot House, celebrating the YWCA's national day to eliminate racism. Taiyon Coleman holds a MFA from the University of Minnesota, where she worked with Alexs Pate, Patricia Hampl, and Ray Gonzalez. She also holds a Master's and a Bachelor's degree in English from Iowa State University, where she became a Ronald McNair Scholar, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
 
By Taiyon Coleman
Published on 10/6/2003
 
                is Emmanuel.
                He saves me.

                My lover breaks
                bread for my heart.
                He makes wine
                soaking loaves full
                of my blood.

                is Emmanuel.
                He saves me.

                My lover breaks
                bread for my heart.
                He makes wine
                soaking loaves full
                of my blood.

                His body removes
                pains and stains
                treading Orion
                carrying them east
                to the Southern Cross.

                I am crying residue
                salty of Him.
                I am crying His sugarcane
                sweetness, deepening with voice
                smelling his smells
                licking his tongue
                caressing his teeth with prayered lips.

                My lover saves me
                Indian Oceans
                blue sheets
                coral rocked red
                Bahari sand
                white mosquito nets
                saving me from myself.

                He is a Pisces Savior
                multiplying fish.
                Satisfying my hunger.
                His fingers in mine

                I am waiting to come
                enjoying anticipation.
                Learning Him.
                Knowing Him
                Loving Him.

                My lover's name
                is Emmanuel.
                He saves me.
               

Copyright © Taiyon Coleman, 2003.  All Rights Reserved.