Apartheid without walls
Just doesn’t seem to work for all.
‘Here is another for you’
Is too frequently the call.
Sleeping peacefully is the light
Which lights our too long night.
‘Tom Sawyer’ is often our guide
Which ‘Huckleberry Finn’ denies
Is also our guide.
In high school Edgar Allen Poe
Is part of the show which is unexplained –
But that was long ago.
At the university
Samuel Clemens fights the Civil War
Disguised as Mark Twain
Who should be smiling in the rain
For writing two novels just the same.
For the lucky among us
They should only be reminded
No one bothered them much
Until they graduated finally.
Sometimes it’s a hard test of faith…
I’m sorry you had to wait.
(Apartheid Without Walls)
Homeless I am
But what a man
I will always be.
I am always asked for favors
Since it seems
The winter cold becomes me
And I am never seen
Even on a mild day in July.
I can still hear my friends
While they are laughing
Calling to each other
‘Here I ain’t’
To startle the others awake.
Like the honking geese overhead
I come and go with the seasons
Which doesn’t offer reason
Much hope to explain.
This year I was offered a contract
And smart phone to provide security
At the skating rink in the mall.
I stand so tall
Knowing now I am helping all.
I won’t fall
While my friends wave and call
Then ask how I could come home
Before the snow in mid-autumn.
It would be great to have hands they feel
That never become numb
Or need to chase bread crumbs
Like our other friends the ravens.
We don’t worry now
That you’re off to your place in Heaven.
(Snowman)