Poems
I saw the long jaw
pierced ear
caught a glimpse of breast
it wasn’t her
just someone
the other side of the street
The walk was there
even strappy heals
and striped tights
but air refused to perfume
feet didn’t fall
angles were decided
so shadows could not breathe
The other side of the street
realized it wasn’t mine
No manna only meal
People tilting traffic
on wrong furies
never noticed my injury
salve not spared
wounds as deep as streets
asphalt over.
Counterclockwise stir coffee
Tea not at all
The moon and stars disjoint
Life the reconstructed south
I bend oak shafts
Weave reeds
Wallow in willow leaves
Life is a thicket
I sigh a lot
Coffee just a cheap trick
Learned from randy goats
With no tea leaf portent
Come for tea at 4
I drink a bit at 5
With any luck
I’ll be three sheets by 6
And won’t remember her
A student says to his teacher, “You talk about peace but you teach me fighting. How do you reconcile the two?”
The teacher answered, “It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a garden in a war.”
We are still fighting for Civil Rights.
