Lo was loud, I was soft, she had muscles, I had eyestrain, she wore superman, I wore black widow, she was fight, I was flight, she was a jokester, I was Ms. Seriosa, she was not careful, I was careful about every blessed thing. She was Gospel, I was Gregorian Chant. She’d found Jesus, I’d found Jesus. She’d lost Jesus, I’d lost Jesus. She’d gotten sober young and so had I. Oh, and she was the first lover I ever had who adored my ass. Bingo. I loved to dance and so did she. Double bingo. She was a few years younger but we loved a lot of the same music. We loved music. We love music. Love music. Her apartment in Harlem was music all the time, before, during, and after sex, before going out, after coming home, during every meal. Our life had a soundtrack. It was the Isley Brothers and Stevie Wonder, Pat Metheny and Marvin Gaye, Deep Forest and Luther Vandross, George Winston and Patti LaBelle. Joni and Barry and Smokey and Moby and CSNY. That was the beginning. So much music. I’m pretty sure God is music—not just in it, but it. I’ve also thought that it’s going to be okay to die because everything is music and when I die I’ll simply be in music all the time. Lo agrees with me. For the music alone, we were destined. If there wasn’t music somewhere in the house we were probably in trouble. I guess couples stay together for any number of reasons. We stayed together for music.
(Maureen Seaton)
First time Mo and I
spent the whole night together
I asked her could she
see me in the nightlight dark?
Yes, she said, I can sing you.
(Lori Anderson)
Maureen Seaton & Lori Anderson have partnered on various magical projects (mostly the personal kind) for over thirty-one years. On the occasion of “Music Piece,” they put some words together then danced for as long as their knees held out. Anderson is a Brooklyn-born musician, sculptor, and writer. Seaton’s latest collection of poetry is Sweet World (CavanKerry Press, 2019). Her honors include the Lambda Literary Award, Audre Lorde Award, an NEA, and the Pushcart. A memoir, Sex Talks to Girls (University of Wisconsin Press, 2008, 2018), in which Anderson plays a feature role under a highly recognizable pseudonym, also garnered a “Lammy.” @mseaton9
