Her Lips Are Copper Wire

Jean Toomer 1894 (Washington, D.C.) – 1967 (Doylestown)



whisper of yellow globes
gleaming on lamp-posts that sway
like bootleg licker drinkers in the fog

and let your breath be moist against me
like bright beads on yellow globes

telephone the power-house
that the main wires are insulate

(her words play softly up and down
dewy corridors of billboards)

then with your tongue remove the tape
and press your lips to mine
till they are incandescent

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

20 sec read
417

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXX XA XX XX XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 386
Words 69
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 3, 2, 2, 2, 3

Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. more…

All Jean Toomer poems | Jean Toomer Books

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