I'm so sorry to hear this. John Mella was a wonderful editor to me. In the first issue in which he included my poems, he put my name on the cover next to John Updike. (An honor, but perhaps he was also being light.) He published the specifically lesbian poems of mine that no one else would. And he wrote me a letter on that nice LIGHT stationery, saying that he would publish just about anything I sent in. I dedicate this one to you, John. Rest in peace.
Red Kiss
Who will miss me when I’m dead?
Maybe someone reading this
is just the sort of daisy head
who will miss me when I’m dead
and planted in a tulip bed.
To her, I offer this red kiss.
Who will miss me when I’m dead?
Maybe someone reading this.
|