Singing lessons & Learning to touch
by Aleah Sato
[ poetry - november 06 ]
Singing lessons
open your mouth like so
orange globe motor oil
lick your lips
don't dry
timbre
don't shout
in november you'll learn carols
now it's july
and the tractor drowns out the piano
open your mouth wider
iowa meadow lima pool
pretend you are kissing
the boy
or the girl
pretend the skirt is your knee is my finger
don't slouch
by this time next year
all the lessons will be forgotten
Learning to touch
Premature babies live longer
when stroked like tiny dogs
in plastic shells.
Hearts speed up
for the feel of hands smoothing
baldness and fragility.
The ugly nurses stay late
to comfort
their loneliness like
miniscule pink miracles.
Old men stop by the windows
and look in
at death's opacity.
Learning to touch,
we imagine the world
as a giant mother
who must give us up,
naked animals,
to the human wilderness.
