You’re going to ask if my poem’s racist

and what I’ll say to your face is

anything can be racist in the wrong hands

something innocent here

can be weaponized in some other lands

And some will say, but a racist minority just can’t be

sure if you’re looking at it shortsightedly

Because there’s usually more than one minority around

like during the Rodney ( Read more... )

When you saw me,

my guitar,

my bag,

and my dog at the train station,

even on the platform

It was an uphill battle to convince you

that I was not gone, baby

that this was just a soulful moment

of just watching for trains to go by

It was an uphill battle talking my way

back

into your ( Read more... )

I get it

Uses your freedom of speech

to refute separation of church and state

Willing to misinterpret the second amendment

to defend your privilege from the low-hanging fruits

that you define as a threat, like the minority and the immigrant

… well anyone different,

really

I get it

You were born into this country

( Read more... )

Speak not of the ocean’s depth as far down

The same gravity holds it down that holds you, me

and the very material of the earth

So depth is measured

by how far up

Marianas and the Laurentian are the pillars

upon which the seas stand

But above that even the air…

The ocean is but part of the atmosphere

thickest, lowest part

But were it not there, it would ( Read more... )

What if,

just what if…

See I know that your god is that bearded old man

and in your comic book bible he’s white

and comes from your land,

but, it also says he’s everywhere and all things,

and has indomitable plans.

So I think that means a “what if...”

What if god is that child in your class

whom you teach, but you lie?

What if god ( Read more... )

You’ve lost all your sense sir

Once named by meteorologists

after the most disruptive forces in their lives

- their wives,

Then occasionally after men

to show that you were expected to be particularly

- aggressive.

Now names just alternate

to demonstrate

equal hate

Shows we expect equal danger from

every mystery at any rate

This ( Read more... )

This city is supposed to be a concrete jungle,

but it’s turning into a glass desert

under policies that keep sterilizing it

of personality,

uniquity,

individuality.

I see a red door and the HOA wants to paint it beige

This is why we can’t have nice things

This is why even the hip head out

to suburbia

and your ( Read more... )

Wider Perspectives Publishing is ecstatic to announce that... The POET'S DOMAIN has returned to the roost here in Virginia with some new features that I think will welcome the many previous contributors back into the fold and excite some newcomers to jump aboard. The theme for volume 33 shall be Seasons and Crossroads. As before we don't want to ( Read more... )

When we met we was 5th St.

Shoved to the edge

by our propensity to skate on by

That is days on wood, nights on sand.

You actually thought you were going to ride wave

to impress some other man.

Too lazy to extend you his hand

So I took you down to Croatan

where the real surf meets the sand.

Sometimes we'd leave boards at my ( Read more... )

What does it take to get that poet to take on your experiences

- to claim you to their page?

Fallacy

Short comings
              The door must be cracked open enough

to see your fault clearly enough

to sneak it out and onto the page.

And then it must take something

- a little more.

Yep, something extra

Special

( Read more... )