Poem for My Love

By June Jordan 1936–2002 June Jordan

How do we come to be here next to each other

in the night

Where are the stars that show us to our love

inevitable

Outside the leaves flame usual in darkness

and the rain

falls cool and blessed on the holy flesh

the black men waiting on the corner for

a womanly mirage

I am amazed by peace

It is this possibility of you

asleep

and breathing in the quiet air

Reprinted from Directed by Desire: the Collected Poems of June Jordan (2005), edited by Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, coppercanyonpress.org.

Source: Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan (2005)

Biography

One of the most widely-published and highly-acclaimed African American writers of her generation, poet, playwright and essayist June Jordan was also known for her fierce commitment to human rights and progressive political agenda. Over a career that produced twenty-seven volumes of poems, essays, libretti, and work for children, Jordan engaged the fundamental struggles of her era: over civil rights, women’s rights, and sexual . . .

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