Hemophilia

Deep sighs pour a puddle of dissatisfaction.

Frozen-

thoughts that never move.

My cerebral cortex has made a permanent association

with you

and this shower of pain.

Silent sobs form a river free of waterfalls

(the mouth cannot be found).

My heart is leaking,

the throb of my pen consumes me.

My dripping crimson invades the ink that marks the page.

Stains-

are what you will see when you read my wounded words.

Brown letters

cracking between horizontal lines

reveal bruises from falling,

for you,

and completely missing your arms.

Sunday Sermon

I enjoy being black

because

I cannot blush

in uncomfortable situations,

like when I’m present in a pew

and the word gay

echoes

from the microphone.

It feels as if all stares

are centered

around me.

I try not to move.

Like an expression withholder,

my face becomes stone.

I clench my teeth and

Pace     each     breath

unsure

             

              of how the rest of

  the speakers words

                                             will land.

Erikson: Stage One (Trust vs. Mistrust)

Erikson: Stage One (Trust vs. Mistrust)

At the bus stop, a woman digs into the trash

searching for satisfaction

for a need that mother America has failed to meet.

She picks up and tosses aside

until her thin fingers fall

upon a box of abandoned french fries.

My mom offers the extra meal

that the McDonald’s man had slipped inside her bag.

The woman takes the burger

to examine it with her nose-

Is it 100% beef?  she asks.

Excuse me?  my mom responds.

Is it 100% beef?  the woman repeats-

the burger still at her nose.

My mom speculates, Yes …

before returning to the blue bench

from where she glares,

at the lady nibbling in the August sun.

Traffic in November

Traffic in November

I feel like my secular self today:

cold and thirsty. I drink

hot chocolate to feel the warmth between my lungs.

Snowflakes cling to my pea coat,

white specks dissolving into gray.

At night, I find myself

riding in the wrong lane.

A red Volkswagen Bug
boxed in a maze

of slowly moving Transport System trucks.

I peak beneath the belly

of an adjacent trailer

to watch other cars race by.