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Match Made, a poem by Dan Carpenter

Match Made
by Dan Carpenter

It’s all about
what you bring
to the relationship

He brought poetry
She brought jazz
They set down plates and glasses
For serving them
On a gingham blanket
They shook and spread together
On the lush grass in the wooded
Little-trammeled corner of the park
Where they sat and sighed for a fair while
Faces lifted to the sun
Then bent to the task
The spooning and pouring
The murmured blessing
The silent parting of lips
To take and taste
One another's portion

Strange nourishment
Exotic brew
Sprung rhythms and 4/4 time
Lines and chords from God knows where
Levertov whisper on the tongue tip
Coltrane claw across the palate
Seizing heart and breath
Mating them to one forever afternoon
At last, knowing their fill


Bio: Dan Carpenter is a freelance writer and former Indianapolis Star columnist, born and residing in Indianapolis. He has published poems in Flying Island, Poetry East, Illuminations, Pearl, Xavier Review, Southern Indiana Review and other journals. He has published two books of poems, The Art He’d Sell for Love (Cherry Grove, 2015) and More Than I Could See (Restoration Press, 2009).