You over-do
I under-do
Friction ensues

One always right
Other ever left
Hard to undo

Flight or fight
Choice always wrong
An old, sad song

I’m 87% sure
I’m 97% right
13.2% of the time

I’m rarely wrong
When I’m actually write
Like wright now

I’m probably certain
And certainly resolute
Of probable absolutes

Maybe

Zippy sez:
“Shark repellent Bat Spray!"
“Shark repellent Bat Spray!"
“Shark repellent Bat Spray!"
At least three times a day day

Between lug-nuts and Valvoline
He shows us the in between
Polka-dotted yellow-red muu-muu
Absurdist existentialist
Shows us how to do-do.

And then,
Whites were gone
Not even then when

No Niña Pinta or
Santa María
No TB for NA

No Auto-de-fés
No pogroms
Nor hollow cost

All brown around town
North South and Central
Native America

Look: on the $20 bill–
Alexander Hamilton
There: a Fredrick Douglas fifty

Jesús? Brown.
Buddha? Yellow.
Tecumseh? Red.

George Washington
Carver? Black.
No white slight, that

We can build walls
Separate families
Deny others entry

Or reclaim beige and
Not run the race
And finally, just behave

I do the best I can
As an old white man
Privilege not withstanding
I try understanding

The world is bigger than me
. . .
Just another tiny speck
Hoping to do so with respect

Son of no one
Now pater has passed
Mother long gone
Children none

Friends, a few
Fewer those true
Fortunately,
Family remains

I have my life
I have my house,
Critters within
I have my spouse

Listening through the chatter
What‘s mattered now shattered
Cluttered schemes now
Shuttered dreams
Minority priorities
Reassigned—
Misaligned