Barely beyond seven years,
I was a small brown-haired boy
biking in a small town.
Till, I found
a little feisty dog
angrily yapping
and snapping
at me
when I tried to be friendly.

Older by three or four years,
walking out of the housing
down alleyways
on my way to school.
Till, I met a big dumb dog,
friendly enough
and playful to boot,
just a little too rough
as it nibbled at my shoe,
then tugged at my pants.
It would not let me get away
scraping my legs
and making me late to school.

Almost thirty
working at Diary Queen,
dating some creepy girl
who was really mean,
and had a pit.
Poor dog had been abused,
kind of aggressive
when it wanted attention,
kind of dangerous
if you had your hands up,
bit and scratched me
a little too much
playing just a little too rough.

He was slow and slurred
in a stupidly stumped stupor
and in my naivete
I cared for him
because of my innate
sense of sympathy.
Until, the thieving
and harassment
finally took me
to the limits
of my patience.

It is a cold-hearted comparison
but I liked those dangerous dogs
more than that **** and ******
addict.

It is strange to observe people from a distance. I watch  those whom I knew as a child, and find myself wondering how they became so removed from their imagination. They stumble through the daily grind embittered by the struggle to make ends meet and consumed by a desire for more things. Yet they have some how forgotten the joy of running around, playing tag, or reading stories that take them away. What a tragedy.

If skin color, place of birth, politics, or religions is what separates you from a stranger. Then remember your stranger was once a baby, has lost or will lose someone, and they will cry as you do. They will walk awake in mourning as will you, as you do, because they are human to. Syrian, Republican, Dominican, Cuban, American, Conservative, Liberal, Democrat, Atheist, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and all variations between and around these distinctions are part of our human family.

If I can’t have pages
and pages
of pure brilliance,
then give me

one
word
drips
that
slow-
ly
fill
the
cup
up
to
its
tip.
I’ll
grate-
ful-
ly
take
every
sweet
syl-
lable
that
I
can
get.

Prayer is an act of complacency. While you are waiting for god to answer your prayers you could be taking measures to make what your praying for come to be. So by all means feel free to pray but do not feel empowered. Your goals and dreams are achieved by action.