mygodhowdidInotknowthispoem?????
Now I have to go order whatever of her work is still in print.

El Beso
Angelina Weld Grimké

Twilight‒and you
Quiet‒the stars;
Snare of the shine of your teeth,
Your provocative laughter,
The gloom of your hair;
Lure of you, eye and lip;
Yearning, yearning,
Languor, surrender;
Your mouth,
And madness, madness,
Tremulous, breathless, flaming,
The space of a sigh;
Then awakening‒remembrance,
Pain, regret‒your sobbing;
And again, quiet‒the stars,
Twilight‒and you.

Angelina Weld Grimké (February 27, 1880 – June 10, 1958) was an African-American journalist, teacher, playwright and poet who was part of the Harlem Renaissance; she was one of the first African-American women to have a play publicly performed.

“El Beso” was first published in 1909 and became Grimké’s first widely anthologized poem. This lyric meditation expresses a sense of isolation and desire.