i need my heart
(for barack & michelle)
sometimes it's not all politics
sometimes when it's late i want to hold your hand and cross streets for the hell of it
i want to put the kids to bed and put marsalis on the record player we brought together in college
then dance to the sound of crickets when the record skips
between debates i want to argue about the perfume you wore on our second date
and laugh about the letters written from passenger seats watching white lines fly by
i want to cry in front of you now
i want to struggle hard with you as though we may not survive the life of the moon
then wake up smiling at our progress as we run to the sun
hand in hand i want to hold down a family
hand in hand i want to uphold the people
and teach our daughters the way of the block
they way of the land is whichever way we choose to walk
i want the way to my heart to be through you
so to you i give it
it's not all politics
sometimes it's just us
sometimes i can't handle the distance
so i walk a few miles to lessen it
sometimes i can't handle the pressure
so i need you to tell me to stop stressing it
i need you
i need you to be no more than fingertip's reach when i get the urge to grab you
align the freckles in our eyes and wait for our souls to do whatever it is they do
i want to stand on stages before millions to tell the world about this
i want to stand on a front porch and tell you about this
nothing political about it
just an exchange of us when we kiss
and we have this moment
there are no words
and the politics have subsided
and i need my heart
