Singers

Ray Charles, Elvis, Hank Williams,
Nat King Cole, Frankie Lane, Little Richard–
For you guys I’ve been a fool since forever–
my truest teachers, my heroes, my party-
animal-uncles, my brothers, my father–
I wanted to take long car rides with you,
stop by creek-sides and sing the old hymns,
drink beer, hear your thoughts about the girls
in my English class, but it was you, girl-
singers, who taught me the sweet ache of love,
desire, and loss–Linda Ronstadt, Stevie
Nicks, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell–oh
dear ones who do the work of angels, you’ve
changed darkness to light and sung me back to life.