Most didn’t see Carmen as pretty
with her big framed self,
but I saw her as pretty
Her lips were slim and shapely
Radiant dark brown almond eyes 
danced with amber lights 
Her words were a river of throaty 
melodic blues, she was beautiful
I listened contentedly, submerged 
in her words cascading over me
Eyes rich, pleasant to stare into
not fat, big and tall,
she stood 6 feet 2, 
Some mighta’ called her husky 
She had dark brown frizzy hair - 
In those days - they said ‘kinky’, 
her face was soft and oval
Carmen was Nuyorican in 1963
before the word had been invented 
a Puerto Rican New Yorker 
I stared into her pools of liquid irises
while we rambled on, 
sharing, baring our secrets
selfishly, selflessly and eloquently
Carmen had high cheekbones
a sweet engaging smile with a 
big fro creating a halo
She seduced gay men
Back in the day Carmen was my best friend
Both of us were outcasts
She didn’t fit in with her kind
I didn’t fit with mine
We hit it off - hung together, 
no boundaries anywhere 
We sure made a strange pair