It was Christmastime,
the balloons needed blowing,
and so in the evening
we sat together to blow
balloons and tell jokes,
and the cool air off the hills
made me think of coffee,
so I said, “Coffee would be nice,”
and he said, “Yes, coffee
would be nice,” and smiled
as his thin fingers pulled
the balloons from the plastic bags;
so I went for coffee,
and it takes a few minutes
to make the coffee
and I did not know
if he wanted cow’s milk
or condensed milk,
and when I came out
to ask him, he was gone,
just like that, in the time
it took me to think,
cow’s milk or condensed;
the balloons sat lightly
on his still lap.
---
Kwame Dawes is the author of twenty books of poetry. Dawes is Glenna Luschei Editor-in-Chief of Prairie Schooner and Professor of English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is Director of the African Poetry Book Fund and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival.
Editor’s note: This was reprinted with the permission of Kwame Dawes and his publisher, Peepal Tree Press.