The Poems of Mark Doty

Before you is a door.
Recently painted
But you can see the texture
Indicating the passage of time
In layers of flecked off and painted over paint.

You open the door
And find yourself in a meticulously lit room.
On the wall are arranged
Several ancient glass daguerreotypes.

One is the image
Of a beautiful young woman
In a billowing frilly dress.

Another is of a child
Smiling and holding an ice cream cone.

Several depict horses.

And one to the far right
Contains the ever-present Studebaker.

You view them,
Ponder them,
Make your exit, and close the door.

As you walk away
The feeling that began
With the first sight of the door
Jells.

It's a a gay love poem.


	19 August 2003
	by Bill Cattey