Canary
By Rita Dove
for Michael S. Harper
Billie Holiday’s burned voice
had as many shadows as lights,
a mournful candelabra against a sleek piano,
the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.
(Now you’re cooking, drummer to bass,
magic spoon, magic needle.
Take all day if you have to
with your mirror and your bracelet of song.)
Fact is, the invention of women under siege
has been to sharpen love in the service of myth.
If you can’t be free, be a mystery.
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I’ve only had two “Billie Holiday” poems in this month of poetry (now down to its last few days). You could have a month of Billie Holiday poems with little difficulty, although a month of her singing might even be better:
A Few Reasonable Words 