I never knew his real name as a child in Newark
But named him Uncle Funky the peanut man while he sold peanuts
from a makeshift stand, now on this June 2013 morning
My mind opens the door of youthful memory
I can see soiled pants and shirt,an old battered hat  covering gray uncut hair and brown hands waiting for a dollar for his peanuts
Funk clung to his skin like fleas to a dog
And just one whiff released would stagger a young boxer in his prime
The times changed with the town sweeping Uncle Funky away with
yesterday and the past like old news
And I wonder and it isn't a very pleansant wonder
Whatever became of Uncle Funky the peanut man?

The two men had known each other since childhood
And had remained friends
With exploring eyes they had seen eagles soar in Italy,boats  sail in Greece
the large moving hands of Big Ben in London,laughing children in Paris
And in all of these wonderful places they could speak and clearly
Understand each language.They had become world travelers
Having traveled by boat train horseback camel taxie.Than one ,each traveler had discovered that different ailments had come upon the other
One traveler's legs were weak  needing a wheel chair, his friend had gone blind
so they sat down together to discuss their mutal plinghts
And put a plan in place that would let them continue enjoying
new travel adventures.The crippled traveler in the wheel chair
Promised to be the eyes for seeing. The blind traveler promised to use
his strong legs and fit body to push his wheelchair bound friend wherever they decided to journry.

Hope is all I have to believe that the sun will rise each morning
So that I can see it
Hope is all I have to believe that the moon will glow bright every night
Hope is all  I have that my love will not fail you
Hope is all I have to believe that my child will come home each night
Happy and smiling like she left this morning
And that street violence will not claim her
Hope is all I have to believe that the rain will not be held back
And fall like it always has and feed my crops with continued life
Hope is all I have that the doctor is wrong when he kicks it away
like a three legged chair and tells me that I have no more time to laugh,
love, or care for you tenderly
or another chance at happiness on another new day

I can still smell the strong aroma of vinegar used to wash away the blood
of slaves who were flogged on deck until their backs were raw
mainly the ones who refused to eat  or drink in order to be made bigger
to sale on the auction block.Their lips were sewn together and a hole
was cut into the side of the cheek and boiled millet was poured in
We slept less than six inches apart below the deck amid the *****
funk,feces,side to side,belly to belly,hands and feet in short chains
a slave will try to escape usually as the small canoe is leaving the shore
or throw himself into the shark infested waters to end his doomed life
while the chains and anglets were taken off that we could dance
to fiddle music music and entertain the captain and crew with yellow rotting teeth and whiskey coated breathes
before arriving on deck some slaves might have died
and were thrown overboard or put into rafts piled up and floated
out to sea,and so we were again counted and examined  one by one
*******,groins,toes, backs ,teeth, arms
No wonder that some of us slaves thought that death was a highly
prized escape over living a life of chained misery

Lust is usually served on a platter of desire
A fancy feast of slow or quick Death
An  disconnect from reason, a flight of the mind

On this Philadelphia street
You walk quickly by and don't acknowledge me
In this the city of brotherly love
But at this makeshift place where I suddenly died you bring flowers and cry
So many have placed flowers and stuffed toys where my life was lost to street violence and this one fact remains ever so true
In life down here though I was nobody to you
I was always somebody to Him
Yes,it seems quite a shame that only in death people have finally learned my name.As life drained away, each breath grew weaker and weaker,inside a faint prayer was reaching out to Him on this litter trash covered sod,somehow I knew these final falling tears running down were reaching the heart of God
And this one fact I know inside as my life and vision dim
I might never have been anybody to you
But I was always somebody to Him

I should have written sooner, that I know
But no sooner does the dawn command the sun to rise
Before evening makes it go its lonely way
Somehow I still think of you
When I behold a  russet apple tree
With arms bent down with ripe fruit
Or walking the beach barefoot
With shrieking seagulls overhead
Under  a sky as clear and blue
as  polished glass
Come walk beside me on this new day
Let us join the ages
The sun rises and sets
As the seasons spin before our eyes
The moon and stars will light the way
For us down life's path
Seeds of friendship planted by us will take hold and grow
Care and love will protect them
Warm and feed them
Surely a tree will rise from the soil of time
Warmed by the sun's gentle rays
Let us plant today
The tree will be us
But you seem unsure
Be my loving friend
Are you  ready?
Do you feel secure enough to really know me?
Do I offer too little or too much?
Am I too late?
Or too soon?