It took an old man from Georgia
whose skull was cracked
by the cudgel of prejudice
on “Bloody Sunday,” 1965,
to force the speaker down
even if he would not hear
The speaker called the sit in
a “publicity stunt,”
debasing the act with
a catchall phrase
We are not blind,
Mr. Speaker.
We are not deaf.
You will not silence
the will of the just,
the pure-hearted.
We see through
your icy smile
Have you had enough
of gold Jesus in the Glass Elevator
looking down at you
Have you had enough
of shiny TV correspondents
bloviating on the blessed lives of celebrities
before you brush your teeth
Have you had enough
of lawns that keep growing
that you can’t afford to upkeep
what’s the grass for anyway?
Have you had enough
of 15 flavors of Triscuits, including:
Original
Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil
Reduced Fat
Hint of Salt
Rosemary & Olive Oil
Dill, Sea Salt, & Olive Oil
Roasted Garlic
Fire Roasted Tomato & Olive Oil
Garden Herb
Rye with Caraway Seeds
Why fifteen?
Have you had enough of too much enough of hearing “amazing” when it’s not
It’s sleet in an April storm
it’s the homeless 22-year-old
outside Grand Central Station
with a sign,
“You don’t know how humiliating this is . . .
I just want to go home.”
you want to turn away
but can’t
the thing that got away
it’s not spoken of
in polite conversation
what makes conversation polite?
It squeezes you
boa-like
it stops you
in your purposeful tracks
It muddles your dreams
it asks you why
you abandoned it
what could be more important
than
The ritual of it
Stations of the Cross
at Blessed Sacrament Church,
watching King of Kings and The Robe,
shopping at Macy’s or Alexander’s
for Easter outfits
Mom’s Easter baskets
ribbons on the handles
curled with scissors
she learned to do it as a
gift wrapper at Macy’s
My prize possession
was that sailor suit
my brother and I
clowning for the camera
replete with being
we
lived in our own world
sometimes that was good
In pink coat,
white stockings
and gloves,
Mom
ballerina-like,
graceful and
lovely
sometimes hard, too
The munchkin years
I can’t recall
this photo or this outfit
my dress too long
but we had our baskets
we were going places
Rick and me