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Writer's picturegabrielle tola

Lesbian Litany in the Key of Love by Keisha Cole

as seen on Voicemail Poems!


Love revealed itself to me, sonambula,

cherubs with trumpets and harps in my daydreams

anointing the palms of my hands to your shoulders

– Que Dios nos bendiga

Never again can I end the evenings

without the cocoon of your arms

and rise without the heat of your chest on mine

in the morning

– Que Dios nos bendiga - if I

Knew my beloved was waiting & willing…

had I known my love would

come running crossing miles, crossing

states, crossing coasts,

I would’ve started praying

over your safety earlier to sheathe you

from all the harm on your way to me.


What was I even doing before I met you?


I thank Yemaya and her waters

for every tide that ended with our being here.

every person in our lineage that migrated and endured

and led us here. I knew

people loved before us, I know all lovers feel

they’re inventing something

– Que Dios nos bendiga, I always felt there


Was more to love in every partnership to precede

you but bless everyone who

paved the way so we could be

in love

aren’t we blessed to have found

each other so young?

so tender?

so gently?

so early in our lives? I knew

i was capable of submerging myself in the depths of love’s oceans

i knew I could merge myself in another’s breath

i knew there must be someone out there,

awake at night for me too while I cry

to the tangos my grandparents would fill rooms with

the boleros my mom perfumed bathrooms with

kitchens with la sala with

- how? how could she not rejoice

when I tell her “Mami,

al fin encontre mi amor.”

i knew I could resonate with their love songs

I knew something was


Missing. I knew it.


I pray everyone feels the ecstasy

I do when Keisha Cole

hits the chorus like the harp-playing

gilded angels did the day I fell in love:


Love, never knew what I was missing

But I knew once we started kissing

I found

you.


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