In Order To Survive Poem by Robert Rorabeck

Always wanting more,
The jasmine blooms: it smells beautiful and causes
Tranquility:
I let you into my courtyard today, Alma, and we picked a gladiola
Or something else together,
And you told me it was what your mother always liked:
Alma, you got pregnant at sixteen in America with Michael,
And I went shopping at the Sunshine International Flea Market for something
To buy you for your birthday, which is on the Wednesday of this week:
And then you came over and I kept on wanting to touch you,
And you kept on telling me not to touch you:
You smelled so good, and you used my bathroom, and the lions played
With the rabbits, and the planes touched down and felt a beautiful
Weight lifted from them once the stewardesses walked out
And realized that they’d been touching so many precious things:
And I am so glad that I know your name, Alma- and surprised,
And I am feeling slightly unreal, Alma, that you came today-
That you stayed and spoke my name in the shelter of my house, which is
A necessity every man needs in order to survive.