Lust
Martha Strom
each yoga asana
sending up a different message--
but nothing it says is equal to
what it said to god
in the odd contortions
we shared together
you knew where
each mole was
and when you would caress them
with your fingers
i felt so loved
you said you’d been terribly depressed
over the fourth of July
but now you were okay
so i invited you to come over Sunday;
you’ll pick up my painting
daffodils down the block;
you’ll bring over some chicken shag--
i feel so grounded
willy i will never get over you--
how can it be, although
i feel absolutely no physical attraction,
that you turned out to be
the lust of my life?
Martha Strom received a Phi Beta Kappa key when she graduated with Distinction in English from Boston University. Soon afterwards, she earned a M.A. and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Princeton. (That was during the first decade of women at Princeton.) Later, she taught English and Writing at Princeton, Brandeis, and Harvard, before moving to New York where she taught Adults with Psychiatric Disabilities; and ESL at Pace University. Now, she writes and lives in Brooklyn, New York.