who will help me
the poor black soul
that the world has abandoned
like lost mail they
did not return for?

& so i wait
& watch the world
day after day
get on with their lives
freely & unscathed
with the only ticket needed
their white skin
leaving mine
stamped invalid
& destined to turn
blood red
from brown

my friend al
calls me every night
midnight to be exact
with invites to the maryland club,
you know the one, near hudsons bay
where johnny walkers always playing that old drum?

come he says
& we can dance with martini & rossi
baila baila on table tops
while jose cuervo
plays his cuban guitar.

aye yae yae mami,
venga, venga!
come
let me show you the comforts
of southern hospitality

it will only cost you one silver dollar

i try to say no
absolutely not

cause the last time i danced with al
i found myself lying in the arms of ron bacardi
at the old kentuky tavern down by the green river
ooh, he was soo smooth talking
standing there dressed in his red label shoes
& when he told me i felt like black velvet,
handed me four roses
& tickled me with three feathers
i found myself with my
backside to the ground
& me looking up at nothin but skyy
& by the time i knew what was going on
we had done it 151 times
before jack daniels caught us
behind mr. boston's house
& when he swore
he’d tell my old grand dad
i was so scared,
i stole the white horse
that belonged to capitan morgan
just to get away.

lord knows to this day
if he knew
he’d slap me silly, take me to church
& swear the christian brothers
could save my soul.

no, i wanna say
absolutely not

but its too late

i’m already at the canadian club
where my soul is being ******
by the fat *******
filling my glass
with crushed grapes.

when we’re old
i’ll have you know
your eyes
will never carry bags

i will never see
the wrinkles
folded in your skin

your hands
will still fit mine
regardless of
the bending & twisting
our knuckles may take

& my heart
will still beat
to the sound of your voice
though it may crack
& be barely heard

old age
will not define us
for we are
timeless
a line, continuous
fluidity

let my hair
a wiry mesh
of thick sinews
tangle inbetween
your finger tips

let my sweat drench itself
a torrential rain
into the soft valleys of
your chest
drowning you

let my breath crash itself
a virulent wind
onto the sensual twist of
your neck
blowing you

&
let my hands be calming
like the eye of a storm
to the quickness of your heart
before the wind
starts turning up & roaring
again

The blackness of an eye
A prisoner's plea
A child’s recoil from touch.
Tears bottled up
with the swallowing of pills.
The secrecy of people
wanting us to die
while we are here struggling
with the expectancy to live.
For those who only cry out
through the pain in their eyes
we speak out
against violence
& despair
this is
my voice
for the world
to never have to scream
silently again.

we are an enigma
like a jigsaw
& i
am perplexed
by our movements
in this dance we do

its so
tango like

i run
&
you chase

until i turn
wanting to get caught
but you
pull back
the way a long distant
night waltzes
into obscurity
only deciding
to reappear
the next morning
yelling "wait!"
but
the track star
that i am
has sprinted
so far gone
with heart in hand
that i don't hear you

or at least maybe
i pretend not to

tell me
how long will we
continuously swerve
away from each other
like two cars colliding
too afraid of wrecking
each others emotional walls?

this waltz
in which we dance
around each other
has become
an unpragmatic
silent torment
to us both

lets meringue
or even bachata
baila
baila
conmigo now
spice it up a bit
lets salsa
come on
pull
me
close
cause at some point
all music changes
&
dances eventually
come to an end

i'd like to spend a night with you
without armor, covering
without  distance, separating

i'd like to spend a night with you
without obscurity, muting
without silence, encroaching  

i'd like to take down these walls
that cling, like some strange disease
and cause me to bleed

i'd like openness and clarity
to approach me  
to embrace me
and allow me
to be cured
finally

there's a memory of you
that lives
& breathes within me
like a good drug
it flows
through my veins

i remember you,
warm & brown
& how your supple lips
invited me to dine
every night
until about a quarter past 3

you my beloved
filled my summer nights
& days
to such an extent
that i still quiver
involuntarily

i remember

your lips
were the kind meant
for kissing
always
slightly parted
& beckoning a kiss
i wished i could
try out on myself
first
just to see
if it was good enough
for you

i remember you
artful dodger

do you remember me?

You say
Talk to me

And I say
how I love love love
The way you make me laugh until my sides hurt
And so many tears
come from my eyes
I could quench the entire Sahara

I say
How I love love love
to look at you
like a priceless Monet
Just cause
You're that beautiful
To me

Then I say
Just how many ways
That
I love love love that familiar space
You know, the one
In the crook of your arms
where I fit snugly
Like the last missing piece to a puzzle

I say
How I love love love
the way your kisses
make my toes curl back
faster than an over stretched spring
Recoiling
And how spooning
with you
is all the security blanket
That this one girl  needs

Then I say
how I'm going to I look up
and tell
How much I am beginning
to love love
you

till you say
Talk to me

And I say
About what
Cause
all my words
They've  faded
As if they were tiny grains of sand
Washed away
From the shore,
slowly

You see,
these words
They're there
Inside my head
Speaking out
So loudly
You just can't hear me say

So Instead  
I say some corny joke
Make small talk
To mask my awkward speech
&
break the silence

How bout them Texans?!
Boy, this Sunday
they really did score....

i don't want to look like
aunt rosa's grandmother
who no longer wears
a bra
but a ***** sling
a holster
built strong enough
to keep boulders
from dropping out
the sky

every morning
she would
bend over and
pour herself a D cup
then
lock them tightly
on the third rail
and pray that the
2 convicts
didn't take flight
in the middle of
the day

i try to prevent
gravity from
stealing
the perkiness
my lover loves
every time i take a deep breath
and they point guiltily at him
but
no matter how much
support i've crossed
my heart with
gravity
pulls and stretches
my new bra
till the straps
tether  and my cups
runneth over
spilling onto
on to the reality
of the hard
cold floor

You said I love you
and with just three words
silence crept into the phone
like the aftermath of an tsunami
& caused my shell to crack
like the earth under a powerful wave
& the ocean to drag me out
drowning me
into a sea of proverbial bliss

one by one
our sons
have become
limestone slabs
planted
in newly clipped
concrete grass

this razor

it flirts with my wrist
like an experienced man
that's too old for me
yet temps all my tendencies
for the taking anyway
making me wonder
if for the first time
will i feel it?

will it penetrate
and tear me apart
slow
spread me open wide
only to let my crimson droplets
Tap
Tap
Tap
bob ross like
& paint the white
linoleum floor?

what is this
tingle
between my
toes
that rises up
into shock waves
just from
your heat
and it’s
got me feeling some kinda way
****
you
for taking your words
and twisting them up
into my underwear
which mishappendly
fell to the floor
the moment you touched
me
and i swear i don’t know how
they got there
**** you
for making me remember
this feeling
i’m used to being so numb
that i have forgotten
how to react to feeling
this feeling some kinda way

****
you
for being here oh so late
but oh so on time

i want to tell you
i love you
but the words
escape me
like a freed convict
who has disappeared into the night
leaving my feelings
arrested instead.

i do not understand
how three words
can be
hard as cement
and lay
stuck in my throat
like Excalibur
in stone
unable to be
pulled out,
even by you

i don't dare admit
my
feelings

i am an alcoholic
in denial
when it come to
how addicted i am
to you

through the spaces
between
curling flowers
and a lattice framed
yellowing
fence

i could see them

i could watch them

every
day

the barbeques
slamming of doors
pool parties
birthdays
late nights
x rated

the loudness of it all
left me panting
for more
&
living vicariously
through their lives

i don’t have much, really

cept a few old lp’s from chicago

78’s from motown

& cd’s that play the blues

but

if all you wanted

was to boogiepophipfandangle

& snap your fingers

to you, I’d give

to see you smile & dance



cause you see,

i don’t have much, really

cept some poems bout love

& if you wanted to be

cereano & serenade another

to you, i’d give

to see you happy & loved



& although i don’t have

the riches of a king

or eloquent words

to pluck your hearts strings

what little i do have

to you, i’d give



i’m ruddy brown

& poor as a beggar's heart

who like a scratched record

stutters occasionally

whenever you’re around

because all i have to offer

is love

do you remember
when
the world shut me out?

how quick we forget, now

when i was four
and they threw
sand in my eyes
& me out of the box
i cried so hard
i couldn't see
and you still told me
i was too special
for them to see
what they're missing

i'm blind to you, now
when
i was chubby
8th grade
and no one else
loved me
you still told me
how beautiful
i was
and that you
would always
see me that way

how ugly am i to you, now

when i was purple
haired and fifteen
you bailed me out of jail
you still told me
even if i was wrong
you could never leave me
there

you bail on me, now

when i got stood up
you took me to prom
anyway
you still told me
i will always
be there for you
especially when
others won't

you stand me up, now

do you remember
how proud you were
when you still told me
ill always be
your child

somehow
i must be adopted, now

i may be pregnant
i may be gay
i may be high
i may be sick
i may be dying

but,
i am still yours

do you remember
when
the world shut me out?

how quick we forget.

you
are
the
exact
measure
to which
all others
fail
to
measure

I keep thinking one day
I will be able to muster up the words
I love you
and say them
directly, to your real face


but until then
this photograph
will have to do
cause
in your presence
I stammer and stumble
over the simplest of phrases
leaving my feelings looking like
a drunken cad
walking down the street
with my words
staggering at my feet
unable to be put
one in front of the other
& finally me
ending with my heart
passed out at your doorstep
cause my sense of sobriety
always fails me
around you.

lately
the color of our skin
only refracts bullets when
enough light
has hit it
deflecting
death &
a mother's
burning tears

when i’m away from you
this ******
that i've had
waiting

with its wrapper edges
so neatly folded up
makes a good
ashtray

now, if only i smoked

i may be jump starting
into a fast play here
but this ain't no ordinary game
i’m playing,
i ain't got no geechee tricks
up my sleeves
or a curve ball in sight,
with you
it’s just me and my straight pitch

so imma throw it to ya
like this

i’ve been traveling
across the court
waiting for you
to be wide open
for me to free throw
this to you

i love you
man

did you see that pass?
that shot i made
all the way
from half court?
you gonna
catch it &
come over here
slam dunk it
like i want you to
or let these words
rebound off your chest
like a third rate player
with uncoordinated hands?

cause right now
its the third down
in the last quarter
baby
& you still don’t see
how much yardage
you have gained
&
I'm still waiting
for you to
intercept me

dontcha know,
i wanna do
more than
just sack you?

but
don’t get it twisted
this isn’t some obsessed
lovesick fan
aching & destined
to show up
at your door
like a groupie
unannounced
cause
i’m not about to chase you
this ain’t track &
i don’t run after nothing
that can’t catch up to me
first

but ****, don’t you know
i’ve got words for you papi
like goaaaalllll
& oyeeee
i might let you play
in my centerfield
but only if you can come
kick it hard enough

i wanna know
how do you
wanna
play this game?

you make me laugh
till my sides split open
like a ripe coconuts
that fell to the ground

would you like to make love tonight
underneath the coolness of blue city lights
in the warmness of this dark room
where i might only kiss
you
till our lips can’t tell the kisser from the kiss
& our tounges entangle to become one
like the time all we did was kiss
here
we could begin to make love

would you like to make love tonight
while dizzy’s band plays the blues
you could hear it
& play  a melody of your own
with me in the warmness of this dark room
where i wanna make love
with you

darling give me your hands
place yourself inside my melody
till music flows from it
like running water & i
drown you with tunes so sweet
you sing my name
acapella

tell me
would you like to make love tonight
by the flicker of a candlelit flame
& have our shadows dance together
across the room
until we come
faster than the A train back to harlem

you know
ellington never played music
as sweet as mine

can you hear it?
wouldn’t you like to?
i’m playing it for you.

myskin
#brown
#myblood
#red
#mylife
#twittered
#hashtagged
#andreduced

all i want
is a philly cheese steak
not the kind from penn station
but the real ones
from joes
you know,
on 42nd street
where miles
and monk
are played on the corner
by sax mills
and for a dime
you can hear it
loud as the honking horns
blowing in time with the bustling street
while men wearing black bow ties
try to sell me bean pies
allah for a dollar

yeah,
there is where i go
after the grill has been
used all day
and the grease is caked up
like layered pastries
cause that's when they taste best
smothered in onions
and provolone cheese
thicker than
a baby wrapped in a winter blanket

yeah man,
this is my daily bread

& they stood round the hot crackling light,
drinking spirits & chanting celebrating praises all night
after catching a soul, wandering.
he was stripped & tied,
like an animal he laid
next to the tree,
a quivering bird

& they stood round the hot crackling light,
playing "Pin the Tail on the Monkey", with hot coals
as haunting laughter
chilled the hot southern air
blowing the scent of burnt flesh
& sweet magnolias everywhere

& they stood round the hot crackling light,
watching the thick, yellow braided snake coil their fears,
& stifle
what they had done
leaving him, black and hanging
like a cluster of bananas,
swinging & waiting to be cut
because
strange fruit
does rot

you should, my love

let me have you

in good taste

naked

strip you

peice by peice

down if you please

to where your beauty is

exposed

i would have you

laid back

against the earth, tree branch & sky



you should, my love

let me take you

in good taste

into myself

inch by inch

drop by drop

i want the sweetness

that you are

let me mount you,

celebrate you

with the nectar of madness

unbridled & unrestrained



you’ll see then

& in very good taste

how your body shivers

with delight & turns

under my tongue of fire

while my floodwalls

break & overflow

to cool your desire

in my dreams
every night
you visit me
like a silent thief
and enter
into my bed
into me

the ghost of your weight
fills me with the
heaviness of your soul

&
your weightless breath
blows me over
with the intensity
of a storm
brewing

i know you
your eyes tell your secrets to me
& when your eloquent lips
touch mine
they speak
in a language
that only i can understand

you have a strength that overwhelms
inner beauty that mystifies
& a peace that fills my soul

you are bronze, beautiful
& irrepressibly mine

but when you are weary,
i will give you rest
quench your thirst for compassion
& dry your tears with my kisses
for this woman knows
the remedy to your troubled heart
& dispirited soul


black man,
i understand your pain
& this is what i have to offer

so come,
when troubles are heavy laden
come
lay your head upon my *****
& i will be your strength
when you are weak

i want to sit in
Buenos Aires
drink coffee
till i am as wired
as the skyline
at midnight

i never sleep anyway

i want to kiss strangers
fake-ly
like they were my friends
i lost somewhere
but recently found

i need new friends

i want to tango
with a white Patagonia
rose
clenched in my teeth
while my clenched *******
rise and fall
to the beat of the waves
in my water bra

i never had lessons anyway

i want Argentina
full of faux marble
dance hall floors,
scuffed shoes, burned beans
and fish markets full of thorny
roses

i need to feel full

i didn't want to do it
i didn't want to do it
but he made me
cause they say
he killed an old lady
on 23rd street
you know
the one with the
blue hair and blind dog
all because of some tic tacs
since that's all she had in her pocket
living on welfare
don't you know
they say he crept in
smothered her with a pillow as she said her prayers goodnight?

i didn't wanna do it
i didn't wanna do it
but they made me
cause i got a quota
cause i could be fired
if i flake and
don't take him out
NOW!

i'm keeping the peace.

besides,
that could've been my grandmother
if she wasn't dead
already.

The only walls I want are the ones separating the rooms in my house. You know, the ones that divide my rooms and let me know if I'm cooking here,  Netflix and chilling there or simply just sleeping undisturbed .

The only walls I'm interested in are the ones separating the rooms in my house. You know the ones that divide my rooms and let me know this is the space where my daughter plays, this is the space where my husband prays five times a day, this is the space where I wash the grit of the day from my ***** clothes.

The only walls I'm interested in are the ones separating the rooms in my house.  You know the ones that divide my rooms and let me know this is the space where I entertain my friends, the space where I try to Zumba and loose the college 10 that turned into the adult  30, the space where all the corners join and then disappear behind my Christmas tree, where those four corners blend to support the tired leanings of my immigrant family after stuffing their bellies full of my freshly made tamales and leftover pernil

So unless you're taking the tired, the poor, the hungry and building them a respite inside of walls that separate homes, inside of walls that gives shelter, that tell we belong and are safely home
then I have no interest in anymore walls
unless
the wall you build divides you from us the way bathroom walls should keep **** contained to keep your stench from poisoning U.S. and the rest of the house.

Now that is the only wall I can agree on.

these feelings i have
left over
are like
little splashes
of red wine
over a carpeted
floor

a permanent reminder
of what once
used to be
in my
hands

come here
you say

& i
resist

somehow
i always think

yes,
it's possible
to walk away

till i see you
waist deep
wrapped
only in a towel

standing
partially
dripping
wetting the floor
& me

how my feet
betray me

delivering myself
to you
i find myself
standing
in a puddle
beneath you

& for a brief moment
you stare
scooping my face
search me
with your lips
&
finally find
my want for you

while we wait for dinner,
you talk
& i
just stare at your lips
cause
they’re the only thing
i want to eat

i wonder,
is it bad
i want to order
off the menu?

i want
bottomless refills
of your kisses
& a side of your hands
on my thighs

until i’m full
enough to wait
for one more
serving

i think i’d like to order now.

how soon
can a full plate of you
be ready
to go?

late at night
when the moon is hanging
high in the sky
& the stars luminescence
gently caresses your face

i watch you sleep

in the silence of the room
where only the silence of your breath
can be heard

it is there
i watch you
while we lay
our limbs entwined
like ivy vines
i allow my hand
to forbiddingly touch your face
tracing
the suppleness of your brown lips
that carry the kiss
i wish to savor
like fine wine

while we sleep
we become entangled
in a web of sheets and satin skin
while your arms
bearing the strength of Sampson
cradle me gently & pull me close
my chin rests
in the cook of your neck
where i can smell
the scent of your sweet air
i close my eyes
hold you
& kiss you there
til morning comes
when you have to leave me
once more

things that happen in my world
don't exist
not in reality
for instance
the absence of racism
exists
not in some, but all stores
where i have enough credit
to try what i want
to buy what i want
without being patrolled

i've never been to prison

i mean my world
is a place where i can be
myself
and the absence of prejudice
exists
not in some
but in all cultures
where i don't have to ride
the white picket fence by day
and jump into
the black skin of my life at night
just to get by

i'm tired of being two toned

in my world
things are different
and
the absence of comparisons
exist
individuality is recognized
and everything fits
not on some
but on all people
here my size
always remains the same
and my image isn't constantly challenged
by the cutouts of paper doll magazines

i never looked like a model

i really like it in my world
because here
underwear models
really are accessible to me
the plane jane i am
and not some
but all men really like getting
dressed up to take you
somewhere
besides McDonalds for a burger
and a neck-bone in the park
here, in this place
honesty exists
not in some, but in all people
it is inconceivable to lie
a virtue
ingrained at birth

i can't stand backstabbing

you cant say that my world
isn't a pleasant place
here
no one dies
violently
the absence of gunfire
exists and
drive bys of the
boys on the corner slinging slang
overdosed  and full of crazed maddening screams
don't float like an evil spirits
through my window at night
trying to possess me
for garage sale bought tv's
while blue and red sirens
illuminating my moonlit skies

i don't need the extra lights

i hear
you say my name
and from your lips
it falls
like petals from flowers
landing
softly on my ears
every time

Nights in Aleppo
come without warning
never letting you sleep
the fear of the unknown
is too strong
so your dreams are as restless
as the florescent orange lights
illuminating the dark sky

Nights in Aleppo
come without warning
covering you
with a clouded shroud of dust
which suddenly ebbs hope away
like the hazy fading light of the moon

Nights in Aleppo
come without warning
creating a dark silence
that chokes you
thicker than smoke
from a Buchenwald chimney
until the screams and cries
are heard no more

boys were fun
for a while

with their tousled hair
flopping freely
like wilted flowers
over eyes
that peered
just enough
through the cracks
at me
like a scared child
to make you want to go
and pull them through

boys were fun
for a while

kissing different ones
has been like eating
an assortment
of creme filled chocolates
never knowing
what i was going to get
till the end

like an italian gelato
on a hot day
some have been
sweet & refreshing
while others
burned me
like bitter herbs
which left a bad taste
in my mouth

& i
like a plant in the desert
freshly rained on
didn't realize
how dry
my needs were
until i met you

now
i no longer
go out to play
with them
cause
you've placed
my expectations
so high
that
like a cat stuck in
the tallest tree
i’ve been unable to bring them
down since

boys were fun
for a while

with their tousled hair
flopping freely
like wilted flowers
over eyes
that peered
just enough
through the cracks
at me
like a scared child
to make you want to go
and pull them through

boys were fun
for a while

kissing different ones
was like eating
an assortment
of creme filled chocolates
never knowing
what i was going to get
till the end

like an italian gelatto
on a hot day
some were
sweet & refreshing
while others
burned me
like bitter herbs
leaving a bad taste
in my mouth


& i
like a plant in the desert
freshly rained on
didn’t realize
how dry
my needs were
until i met you

now
i no longer
go out to play
cause
you placed
my expectations
so high
that
like a cat stuck in
the tallest tree
i’ve been unable to bring them
down since

You think
I love you
a little bit
you tell me

And I freeze,
a small deer in headlights
I am

I think, yes
I'm guilty as charged
And I know I should move
I should say something so I'm not judged wrongly
But I lawyer up, not commenting and plead the 5th instead

Your honor,
Where in the hell
were these words plastered
for you to read oh so well?

I swore
I kept them hidden
in an unpublished manuscript
somewhere...
Unless my eyes
leaked it to the press
Because
they've always been
that one neighborhood snitch
that talks too much
& gives me away
at the very sight of you
every
****
time

You love me
just a little
you say

I can feel
you really
want to know

But I said no,
Perjuring myself
& breaking your resolve

You see my heart
wasn't quite ready then
To be published
front page
& fully available
in stores for purchase.

& he left

at 6 in the morning
like a cat burglar
stealing blue shirts, red striped ties
& stuffing my belongings in Calvin's underwear

well they was mine
till he left

smelling sour
from last night
but sweet from my perfume
with his fat ashy black feet
in grey & white socks

i guess it didn't bother him
they was mismatched
when he left

on a grey Sunday morning
i recall
the rain slid down the pane
the same way he did
outta bed
outta the door  
outta my life

quiet & slow
like a baby breathing
as he left

he swished his mouth out
with cheap champagne
closed the door
like a good novel
with reserve
& without sound

he left

somehow i kept all of your stuff
together
even though it was spread
en todos lugares
much like my feelings have been
some here
others a little bit over there
yet still ending
like these dishes
compacted
smashed
& broken
in one convenient place

somehow i kept all of your stuff
together
i even pieced it bit by bit
de todos lugares
carried it everywhere
intending to unpack
what now resembles
a tight jenga puzzle
shoved into my garage
from things never opened
from every move
my emotions just weren’t ready
to be the wrong box pulled
spilling everything onto the floor

somehow i kept all of your stuff
together yet
en todos lugares
i am the one lost in this rubble
somewhere

you were such an disorganized pack rat
so worried about hanging on to
every little detail of your life
that when you died
you forgot to leave what little room was left
for me
to grieve

love.

it’s amazing how simple this four letter word can be
and yet, at the same time
how complicated.

i sit here & listen
to songs about love
& lovers
dedicating themselves
for attentions
unrequited
some returned
& some lost and long gone

& it is in these moments
i think of you

if i could write
the perfect song
i would take the titles
& put it in the words
how
you & i
love

here & now
if only you knew
i have never felt this way
& its a feeling that
i
can’t let go

loving you
means everything

just to be
close to you
makes me feel
like a superstar

& even after all this time
i’m still in love
& wanting to be kissing
only you

if only you knew
i love whats
underneath your clothes

baby come to me
cause you are
all i need to get by

i swore when i fall in love
it would be
always & forever
it would make me
feel
overjoyed
always

& for once in my life
the reason i love
knocks me off my feet
&
i never have to question
someone like you
or
how deep is your love
or if
is this love
i’m feeling

if only you knew
you didn’t come
a day too soon
there has been
no one
anyone else
is unthinkable
& you are
the only exception

if i could take
all this love
& write you a love letter
this baby this
would be
your song.

the brownness of my skin
should not be the basis
for the deafness in your ears
to ignore the shouts
for you to move

take action

the brownness of my skin
should not be the basis
for the blindness in your eyes
to ignore the ignorance
for you to see

take action

the brownness of my skin
should not be the basis
for the blandness of your tongue
to refuse the opportunities
for you to taste

take action
for
the color of the hands
passing the plate
shouldn't matter
when you’re starving
for change.

if a kiss is worth a thousand words
then with you,
i could talk all night/
converse bilingually/ fluently
we could discuss
the french riviera in spring time
& how lovers stroll through the park
singing/ a clair d’lune
or
you could be don juan
under a window enveloped
in flowers of red/ serenade me
with your spanish tounge
& sweet smile
while the mariachi band plays
amor/   but
if a kiss is really worth
a thousand words
then we could talk
in a language of our own
cause your lips
seem to understand mine/
talking to me/  softly touching
/smoothly matching
like a missing link
making a conversation with you
worthwhile
where words are never wasted
but always well spoken
& unrehearsed/

i like the way you speak to me
black man
so come to me
with your lips
so eloquent & full/
tell me your dreams
whisper me your secrets
in a mellow tone of kisses/
come/
i am listening
& with a kiss
i will answer

you are right to not believe

for you
the silent cries
that carry into the night
do not existence the volume
of your tv is adjusted
& everything becomes
a mute apparition
illuminated
but not heard.

you are right not to believe

for you
the sounds of gunshots
are the popping of fire crackers
after holiday barbecues
& the screams
come from parades of people
cajoling down side streets.

you are right not to believe

for you
the only hanging you know
exists in laundry whites
bleached towels are a must
for wiping hands
clean
& unstained
from the bloodied bodies
of loved ones.

you are right not to believe

for you
the world doesn't exist
beyond these bordered white picket fences
& bakes sales
until your mexican comes
to clean

suburbia
when will you realize
the war to be fought
runs beyond 5’o clock rush hour
& taking away your son’s ps4?