Inheritance 2

If they needed further evidence that our lives matter
they could find it each year at Camp
where I watch Black children of every hue
simply live their joy
seeds expanding into unending potential
kissed by the sun

To know that my son will find refuge
in this place every second week in August
as did I and his grandfather before him
fills me with relief

It is an inheritance of the most precious kind
A place we will always belong

Coastal

It is possible that there are
cliffs like these in other places but
I refuse to believe they are as beautiful.
That anywhere else the sky forms
a more elegant tapestry.
That those other waves crash as symphonically
against such perfectly carved rocks.
That the song the sea foam sings on other shores
is as sweet as the lullaby I hear right now.

The Show

You can pay $18.50 for a ticket to the planetarium 

or you can sit in a field unpolluted by lights 

during the Perseid meteor shower.  

The crickets will narrate 

instead of Morgan Freeman.

The temperature in the theater 

is subject to change without notice

and since the footage is unedited 

your patience is required. 

Still, you can be quite certain 

that the universe extends beyond the ceiling

that the infinity of stars are twinkling in real time and 

that the one you just watched has not already 

been used up on some other person's wish. 

Miss Me A Little

My ego wants to be needed
needs to be wanted
I am facing a fear
It bubbles up from below
I am not longer at the center
at the hub
in the middle of it all
I walked away and they filled my
place and now I am scared the
emptiness didn't hit them
and they won't miss me at all
now that I am gone.
It's my ego speaking, that needs
to be soothed, to feel pity, to
be reassured.
I know I was there and we all want to
leave a piece of ourselves behind
but this world is made of
sand and when the winds blow us away
when the waves wash over
maybe the footprint stays and maybe it disappears
but it doesn't mean you didn't walk
you didn't step
you didn't leave that mark.

Assignment 23: Real Place Poem (Home)

Welcome to Walnut!
The world’s best preserved suburb.
Tract housing birthed in the 80’s still looks fresh and new
from afar.  The wearing wood and fading brick
brightened by trees that never lose their leaves,
not even in winter.

Our strip malls are the best!
A wide variety of restaurants and grocery stores,
car washes, nail salons and shoe repairs.
Our community is diverse -
Have you tried the nachos at the Taco Factory?
Muy autentico!

Perfect for families!
Pristine soccer and baseball fields.
Our parks are so clean -
no crackheads or homeless or
pedophiles or gangbangers or
other unsavory types.

Assignment 22: Imaginary Place Poem

The Wild East

Tumbleweeds roll by the chicken joint.
Vultures pecking at the bones below.
From a saguaro cactus hangs a pair of shoes.
Their barefoot owner remains unknown.

There is only one street leading in and out
The ladies who stand there aren’t proper.
In turquoise fishnets, they entice you to buy.
Come on now, make them an offer.

The general store carries calico and blunts.
The saloon has a special on malt liquor.
The corner boys glare, with suspicious eyes.
Your exit should be much quicker.

Assignment 21: Themed Haiku

Jersey Shore: A Season Three Recap

Jersey Shore summer
Third season of craziness
Trash TV addict.

Come, new girl Deena
Play with the wild drunk Guidos
Go to Karma, dance.

Gym, Tan, Laundry done
Situation on the prowl
Don't fight with Ronnie.

Snooki is so short
Tornado on the dance floor
A whirling dervish.

Jen in sexy chaps
Break up with Tom, girl, so what?
Hot local Roger!

Vinny and Pauly
Work together, get girls and
Stay out of trouble.

Ron and Sam, Oy Ve!
Domestic abuse ensues.
Break up now and cry.

Jersey Shore summer
Lost brain cells will not return.
When is season four?