My Guy
Martha Strom
i put on a poem
in lieu of a dress
i walk around
in the shadows--
drawn blinds
naked
except for my talismans
and my watch
i almost meditate
i almost pray
and then i do
for today
is sunlight
and majesty
and you
were once
my guy
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.