Lavonne Westbrooks's Page

Real Full Name

Lavonne Westbrooks

Literary Pen Name

Lavonne Westbrools

Nationality

American

Languages

English

Country of Origin

United States

Country of Residence

United States

City of Residence

Atlanta

Biography

Editor, Poetrycircle.com

Poem #1

Dimitri and the Americans

my grandson brought the Americans
to dinner and they are loud
always wanting to know things
how we buy food
they called it - groceries
I gestured to the garden
that is food I said
I don’t buy - groceries
how we travel
why should I travel?
I went to Russia during the war
and that was enough travel for a lifetime
I was a general then

these Americans they laugh a lot
I brought out the cognac
the American boy saw a medal on the wall
what is this? he said
I told him


later I went to the bedroom
and opened the old chest
in the bottom
was the uniform
I laughed and put on the jacket
the Americans toasted me and I laughed
by the end of the night the cognac was almost gone
and I was wearing my full uniform
the holster was stiff and cracked but
the gun had been wrapped in oiled paper

the snow and rain made a mess of the road
I said stay tonight
this stone house is cold
but we still have cognac
and blankets
they laughed

and left

the car got stuck halfway up the hill
they all got out to push
I left the house to help
that stiff uniform - I don’t know
maybe it was cognac
I felt strong

we pushed, the woman, the men
got that car to the top
and then I slipped
rolled all the way to the bottom
mud and snow in my face
damn Americans
it was god damn cold

I was god damn laughing

Poem #2

How to become Famous

i wanted to quote
my own poems
but i knew
how disinterested he'd be
being preoccupied
with my breasts and all
i mean
why should i waste
my breath?
so i quoted shakespeare instead
you know
hamlet's speech
to ophelia
where he makes her
feel just like a slut

i know
he won't remember
what i said
but one day
he's gonna tell his friends
he fucked a poet

Poem #3

Simpatico

she modeled
for the only nude
I ever painted
amid lamplight flickers
in a humid garden
we drained
glass after glass
of berry wine
liquid alizarin
sparkles in my memory
what's left is
a warm recollection
voices and tinkling glassware
damp skin and canvas

Poem #4

Look at the Wooo

Look at the Wooo!

All I see
is the scar
where the limb
of a hickory tree
used to be.

Look at the Wooo!
The Wooo of the tree!

What was a scar
has become
a mouth
in perpetual Wooo.

And now we Wooo,
we three,
the four year old, the tree, and me.

Website #1

http://www.poetrycircle.com