I SAID COFFEE 
 

I said coffee 
I didn't say, 
"would you 
like to cup 
my warm 
soft breasts 
in your 
un-calloused, 
long, 
tapered, 
ringless fingered 
hands?" 
 
I said coffee 
I didn't say, 
"would you 
like to 
run your tongue 
along my neck 
just below 
my left ear-lobe?" 
 
I said coffee 
I didn't say, 
"would you 
like to 
hold me 
in your arms 
and feel my heart 
skip beats 
as you press your 
hard, lean body 
up against mine 
until I melt 
into you 
with desire?" 
 
I said coffee 
as we stood there 
in the jasmine 
scented night 
my car door 
like some modern day 
bundling board 
separating us, 
protecting us 
from ourselves 
and lust 
 
I said, 
"would you 
like to go for 
a cup of coffee?" 
I didn't say, 
"would you 
like to brush 
your lips 
across mine 
as you move 
silently 
to bury your face 
in my long, silky, 
raven black hair?" 
 
But you said, 
"I can't 
I'm married 
I can't trust myself 
to be alone 
with you." 
So I looked you 
dead in the eye 
and repeated 
"I said coffee" 
 
 
 

Sharmagne Leland-St. John, a 2007 Pushcart Prize nominee, is a Native American poet, concert performer, lyricist, artist & film maker. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the poetry e-zine Quill and Parchment.com. Sharmagne spends time between her home in the Hollywood Hills, in Southern California and her fishing lodge on the Stillaguamish River in the Pacific Northwest.  She tours the United States, Canada, and England, as a performance poet, either solo or with her band of poets "Poetry in Motion." She has published 2 books of poetry  Unsung Songs (2003) and Silver Tears and Time (2005.)