Put your hands up, walk back slowly, suspects of what?

We were driving through Louisiana, returning to Alabama
after  visiting a dying friend.

The Highway Patrol doing, I guess their duty,
got behind us, we saw it coming in the rear-view mirror.

We braced, knowing two black men, only
riding I-20, because of our skin color, in 2014, were suspect.

Stopped, we told our stories, since they were the same,
we were just given a ticket, DWB.

Drivin' while Black.

The eyes swelling,

The fear of losing

That one tear

You never felt

That you could have.



The heart pounding,

The fear of feeling

That one love

You never felt

That you could have.



The evening growing light,

The sun rising from the sea,

The fear of being alone,



When loneliness is all,

You’ve ever known.





DWB

Forever when I find her
She’s picking up…

clothes that need mending.
a shoe without a heel,
a line from an old movie,
a flute, some spoons,
a button, a comb for her hair,

a torn photograph, a promise
a whisper, a cat and an occasional broken glass.
A chipped saucer, a fork, a ladle, a *** without a top. A broken heart, a lost
tear, hopefully the last.

Forever when I find,
She’s picking up her past
In pieces,
puzzling a life.

DWB

High above the world she walks,
an acrobat.
She balances her supple frame
on the taut wire of hopes and dreams
and for a moment in time
she sets aside
her duties and responsibilities
that have deferred and delayed
the longing hidden deep within
inhibiting her quest
for happiness.

Her innocent eyes
glance to the heavens
then warily gaze
to the ground far below.
Her tormented soul finds the courage
her lovelorn heart the strength
to seize the moment of reverie
and surrender to desire.

Closing her melancholy eyes
before abandoning
her fear of disappointment
she encounters the mysterious yearning
of passion and longing
for the resultant tenderness
she was convinced impossible
or certainly elusive before finding
the momentum of her virtues.

Relying on her wisdom and abilities
she tempts the fates of expectations
as she is now determined to discover paradise.
She leaps into the unknown world of love
her slender hands outstretched.

She grasps the air abundant
of childhood hopes and dreams
while her ballet body soars
and tucks neatly into
a salto mortale of consequence
responding to the disbelief of experts
she disregards the likelihood of providence.

Determined to find happiness
she ignores the speculation
of witnesses and spectators alike.
She is reawakened by her curiosity
to understand the mysteries
and find shelter in the eternal warmth
and wonderment she has avoided
to protect herself from heartbreak.


Nimbly she lands
effortlessly and gracefully
on the clouds of serenity and eternity.
Without missing a breath
she throws her head back
and confirms her intention
with the inviting smile
of inspiration and innocence.

She twice takes a bow
to the roar of applause
and to the amazement
of skeptics and detractors alike
afraid to take a chance and tumble
toward the hope of happiness fulfilled
and find tranquility amid
the harmony of tragedy.

High above the world she walks
now placidly
on the tightrope of life
prepared to begin
to live her life again.

DWB