Sample Poems by Karl W. Carter

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Beginnings

Often it is hard to say
When it all began

The days and months fuse into years,
And just when the joy ceased
           and the pain began,
           is hard to decipher
All I know is that for me
There is no joy
           only pain
And the messages sent
To my consciousness from the deep
Recess of my soul's origin are
           hard to locate
Just when I can say it was
           four years ago
Where in Nashville
           but all else only god knows
Why do I still love you?

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Rendezvous

It was fall when I met you
The leaves were turning red and gold
There was a crispness in the air
And the frost had christened the trees
With its crystal spiderwebs
The migration of the birds south
Could be seen as they flew across
The sky in v shaped formations
Your face first greeted me
One cold November evening
The flush of your smile brightening
           the bleak fall weather
Warming the grey afternoon
With your gentile spirit
Yet I cannot forget that it
Was from the in formalness
Of our meeting that our
           relationship grew.

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The Question

We had spent the day together
Walking in the park
Shakespeare's sonnets were your songs
And growing up Black in Memphis
           had been your conversation
Sitting next to you I asked
           and you said:
"Not now, soon"

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Afterglow

Let me look at you once more
           before we go
Let me see your beauty
Let me feel the warmth of you
           next to me
All morning I've been watching you lay
In the way that clouds form and rivers flow
Your thighs full rich ebony brown
Turn and let your breast firm
           and hard press against my chest
Reach out-hold me close to you