up on Boot Hill
the sun sets early

the soaked anguish
of grieving mothers
swaddled in
twilight's vestments
mourn the death
of another murdered
child

we roll our eyes
and speak in tongues
tiny prayers
incant
RIP

these reflexive bits,
our shattered votives
litter city boulevards
on each solemn
street corner
new alters
of desecration  
are erected
then despoiled with
the wasted wax of
misspent novenas

our extended families
are bloodlines of fear
spawning
prostrate men
tattooed with
multicolored pain
who refuse to cover
body marks
bespeaking epic tales
of sorrow,
divisions
countless separations
also marking
righteous reasons
of seething
resentments
eager to settle
accounts

sweet vendettas  
clever ambushes
carefully deliberated
for generations
by discordant clans
believing in malice
exalting guns

shared loss
is our
common
affliction

uniting everyone
in envelopes of sadness
becoming live
Dear John letters
bearing news of dearly
departed loves

atop the coffins
of dead children
votives pile high
with scrawled eulogies
of fevered graffiti
solemnly pledging
“gonna make someone suffer
gonna even the score
never forget you
RIP”

and we all die
looking stupid as hell

lamenting
love don’t rest in peace
hearing
it scream from the grave
witnessing
the hallowed earth
churning with revulsion
accepting the bitter ashes
of another dead child

for the love of you
is your funeral march

love don’t RIP
it stalks the tomb
of indifference

it mourns
the ambivalence
of its devaluation

it haunts the
day dreams
of what could
have been

it restlessly
flits among
the playgrounds
of our minds

cluttering the rooms
of our homes
with grief

up on Boot Hill
we clasp the
small hands
protruding from
shallow graves
groping to find
a graceful sleep
for love don’t
rest in peace

Stevie Wonder:
Love Is In Need of Love Today

Written to honor
Love Appreciation Day

jbm
Oakland
1/19/13