A glance to the right, and she walks through the door. Two seconds too long lingering on her face. Assessing the “threat”, finally looking away.

Country music blares, we’re seated at the bar. She couldn’t get a drink until I walked in. “Service with a smile” they say......**** that.

Driving down the road I’m stopped at a light. A cop pulls up next to us. She begins to shake.....

A joke taken too far, she’s forced to laugh. Convince herself it’s funny so it doesn’t hurt.
compare her skin to paint being chipped away time and time again until there’s nothing left.

Comparison. Yes. Compare her to the “friend” you have. You mean that one black guy you spoke to once. I mean you guys were polite so it counts right? Nice guy, never had a problem with him.......wait why would you?

I never understood until I met you. Now I’m ashamed. Ashamed of my pigment of who those people are, convincing myself day after day I’m not like the others. Asking for repentance for the sins I’ve been taught to commit in the past. A 10 year old racist child a model of her mother the epitome of casual racism. Adopting pop culture I’ll never appreciate or understand. Liking “hip-hop” but making remarks about the singers.

I met you and my blindness is gone. However my privilege remains. A broken tattered skin that I’m forced to remain in. Claiming a heritage that I’d **** to make disappear.

I wish  I could protect you. wrap my arms around you tell the whole world they’re wrong and never let go. I’d buy you a space suit, to protect you from the contaminated air, and the hate behind those meaningful stares. Cover you in a blanket of love and healthy normalcy.

If only love could break down walls and form revolutions. Because if it could, baby this would be a world full of real people and real solutions.

With the urge to reach the heavens
I kept walking until there was no more earth left
And I could not even reach the skies

Oh Dear Lord!
How do I know?
Where is the heaven and where is the earth.

Mutual embrace severed
Out of politeness, leg
Removed from leg we pulled
Apart desiring separation
In the afterglow.


An affair just begun
Is like a morning
After a night of rain, the
Sun sliding through gaps in the
Ceremonious cloud,
Serene, reassuring and secretive.


It was not yet love,
Just *******.
A curious investigation
Of a stranger, hardly known,
Of unspecified views, who
Has not yet freely spoken.


The routine had long ago been fixed,
Inconsequential phrases over coffee,
Denying breakfast, smiles
Without intent. Holding hands
At the door, a kiss,
And then the regretful goodbye.
A voice remembered as a sigh
A movement as pleasure,
No other memory but the callow scent
Of brief uncertain intimacy.