Poems

by L. Lynn Young

Nine

Running from me
legs like frightened deer
doe feet quick
and skittish
Fingers twisted honey-gold
about your head
and baby-banged
and careless
Look back at me
I am empty-handed
the residue on my fingertips
fades
The velvet oldness
the soft spot beating
in time
Nine
where the first length
of the great fall
begins
You fall into
the color
of a boy’s eyes
alone
Look back at me
The curl of your cheek
plump still
from my breast
is thinning
Hints of beauty
ridge and erupt
as you plummet
Yet I am wild with phantom milk
the scent of your bassinet
and legs like deer
whirling with instinct
into the herd

Crackerjack

A most excellent prize
You
nestled like a cherry
in the cordial
curled up tiny
bird feet
twitching
A most tasty delight
You
sweet fatty legs
doubled and bumping
Silent and loudly
growing
making fleshy waves
as You do
A most selfish tenant
You
tender niblet toes
digging
as I pay your rent
Little worm in the apple
turning
Little jack-in-the-box
A most divine indigestion
You

--LLY
©2000 L. Lynn Young

For the past ten years, L. Lynn Young has devoted most of her time to caring for her family, running a small home-based daycare, and writing. She has recently decided that the time is right to let her babies go free (literarily, of course) and is actively pursuing a writing career. These poems are her first publication.