Dollar

Don't tell me why
The poor man cries
I know his secrets and shame.

I know who he is
I know where he's been
I know his family and friends.

Give him a dollar
But don't ask his name
Don't care what's inside of his mind.

Turn from his gaze
Hide from his voice
Keep walking pretend you are blind.

Go home to your comforts
Your children your wife
And complain of your rough day at work

But don't take the time
To even consider
The poor man's feelings you've hurt.

Just sit by the tube
And watch the news
When you see what you'll see you will hollar.

A man's hung himself
From the top of a bridge
With rope he bought for a dollar.

Serenity

Serenity
You…you are my serenity…
My soft charitable Angel of laughter and passion…
My other…my opposite…
My delight and reason…my nettle and thorn…
My heartache and sorrow…
My weakness and my strength…
Whether by my side or in my thoughts…
You are with me always…
Comforting…challenging…changing…
Always in my heart…always the same…
Beauty… beyond my understanding…
You understand… the unknowable of Me…
My guide…my companion…my compass…
In you I am lost…
You are my daylight and my dusk…
You are the breathlessness that leaves me choking…
For more of you…
Less of me…
You are my war…You are my peace…
And somewhere in the middle…
My serenity.

A Melting Pot Poem-
Inspired by my friend Darin.
August 29,2009.

Absent Hands

Absent Hands
I am not the one to blame-
Though I carry this void within my soul
Like a crafted chain.

Every link placed by absent hands-
That took no part, or time, to mold
This child of yours into a man.

The memory I hold is of no memories at all-
It is simply a whisper of words not heard
By a voice which never cried out, or even called.

The fault is yours, it lies within-
That distance of ever far but never near
I am not the crucible of your mortal sins.

Yet how I wish this path I walk-
The journey I’m on, the steps I take
Could be shared with you; a simple talk.


That my shoulders had felt your arm’s embrace-
In those times a child will sometimes break
That hope is only now an empty space.

A blank I fill with a child’s dreams-
Of love, and joy, and peace, and laughter
But of your chains I am breaking free.

One by one the links they fall away-
Giving hope for the future ever after
That the cost of absence is not mine to pay.

Who I am is me, and those held dear-
Mentors, friends, and loving mother
So that I can face tomorrow and have no fear.

That I will lack, fall short, or somehow not suffice-
I will not hide or run from others
I will not be the heir to selfish sacrifice.



But still…so deep, profound, that I almost falter-
Is the anguish of heart, and soul, and mind
Caused by you, my absent father.

A Melting Pot Poem…
Inspired by my friend Michelle-
Aug. 8th, 2009