Her Lips Are Copper Wire

whisper of yellow globes
gleaming on lamp-posts that sway
like bootleg licker drinkers in the fog

and let your breath be moist against me
like bright beads on yellow globes

telephone the power-house
that the main wires are insulate

(her words play softly up and down
dewy corridors of billboards)

then with your tongue remove the tape
and press your lips to mine
till they are incandescent

Where this text comes from

First published in Cane (1923). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-12.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/jean-toomer_cane, her-lips-are-copper-wire.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (2)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1#L12.

Cite this poem

Jean Toomer (1894–1967). “Her Lips Are Copper Wire.” First published in Cane (1923). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/jean-toomer/her-lips-are-copper-wire/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

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