Oasis Bridesmaids
You told me to stay with your brothers at the
open bar, while you kicked off the
glowing shoes that tragically matched
the vomit pink of your bridesmaids’ gowns.
You bounced to join the women,
to talk with your hands,
sway pendulous and rubenesque
in neon chiffon,
spilling dark ringlets across your bare
honey shoulders.
And this, I decided, was how your people
made a home in that place.
In that barren, broken moonscape,
on the banks of a sea of salt,
punished for your hubris by an Old Testament sun,
the women danced, bare feet in the dust,
black hair pouring out in wild streams,
and the water simply rose to meet you.
E. Doyle-Gillespie is a poet from Baltimore, MD. An erstwhile teacher of literature and history, he now serves as a police officer in Baltimore City. Holding a degree in History from George Washington University and a Master of Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University, he is an instructor in ethics, community policing, and a variety of other subjects at Baltimore’s police academy.
His work has been published and has won awards for poetry in the US, UK, and Finland. His work has been featured in such magazines as Fire Pit , WordWrights, and is regularly seen in Smile Hon, a popular Baltimore magazine. His writing and oration were a part of Amplified Cactus, a multi-arts performance troupe in Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon area.
Masala Tea and Oranges, his first chapbook, was published by Greybooks Press in 2013, and his new book On the Later Addition of Sancho Panza, is available through Lulu