The Drive

the long drive into the country

to begin a mountain climb, the

winding past the warning not

to turn left where death lurked

in the valley, waving to ladies

selling coconut juice on sides

of the bumpy road, children

at play in front of ramshackle

shacks, multicolored blooms

on the hillsides reminding me

despite the civil war what is

beautiful waits with me at the

foot of these mountains for the

second coming. for hours my

heart was beating faster than

words in me rose, the pickup

truck pulled me...

Lord

good Lord, we been awake

all night quite scared. hope

that came with us is beaten

and left alone on the corner

with other shattered dreams.

good Lord, if only you tried

to stop the hands that lash us,

went seeking more than any

of us and sent a few Angels

around with loudly fluttering

wings to guard us from the

crooked who we pray you turn

into a fistful of ashes so we

can scatter them at sea. good

Lord, we woke up saying we

done praying, our mouths have

no way with words cause when

we break loose...

The Stroll

Rosa strolled down the street

with her two kids, a boy on

roller skates passed by them,

the grocer came out to sweep

the sidewalk in front of his

store wearing a smile and

in unison they looked up at

the sky aware from church

lessons it was not forbidden.

she lived without fear on the

block, the people were her

mountain, mornings belonged

to her and she carried the little

village she fled years earlier in

her voice. when she reached

Southern Boulevard, a wide

street annually decorated for...