The Shortest Poem Ever Written

One pair of baby shoes,

barely worn.

On My Walk Today

A bamboo patch,

a trail through the woods,

a baby in a bear snowsuit,

a memorial garden surrounded by stones,

a brook,

a temple,

a community center,

a school that teaches Hebrew,

new friends made,

life is good.

For Nikki

I thought of Nikki this morning
in church,
when she suddenly appeared.
"My daughter," I laughed,
giving her a hug.
Nikki's back and that is good.

I think of the other Nikki's who
have been part of my life.
A beloved tabby,
and the poet Nikki Giovanni,
who feels like a mother to me
She
can take even the most horrible moment,
like 911,
and bring meaning to it.

Her childhood memories take
me back to Knoxville, Tennessee,
and to Virginia,
to church picnics,
and jamborees, gospel
sings and bluegrass
and the long days of summer,

shimmering with hope and promise.

Coming Around

"It hath the primal eldest curse upon it,
A brother's murder."  Hamlet

You must have seen the folds of the sheet
over the corpse,
its feet peeking out beneath the whiteness,

the head turned to one side, as if asleep.
An ever widening pool of blood leaked
from the head wound,
creating a  pool of crimson that
kept spreading in the 82 degree heat,
that was typical of a summer in Ferguson.

"My son, my son!"  The father's pleas were futile,
as rough men kept him from approaching the scene.
He could scarcely take it in.  The heat, the heat
didn't let up
during the four long hours that the body
baked in the hot sun.

Who was this son?  This son from Ferguson?
This brother, this friend
whose voice didn't fit his body.  "A boy

in a man's body," is how they described him.
A little kid's voice in a man's body,

anxious about the future, just graduated with a GED,
and soon, off the trade school.
He was anxious about that, and so approached his friend.
"Dorian, man, I need to talk to you."
So off they headed, to the store,
to walk and talk.

"Musically inclined," "reserved," "with a
"passion for fashion."  His classmates liked how
he matched his shoelaces to his outfits.

"Lil Wayne,
video games,
smoking pot, known to be kind,
yearning for a better time.

A kid in a big man's body,

who should have been home watching "The Family Guy,"
or fixing things
instead of stealing Swisher Sweets.
For that he had to die?

Six shots, one to the head.
Guaranteed to have him dead.

But just to make sure, a
final, sacrificial stab wound from which
blood and water flowed that day on  Street.

The officer claimed to be in fear of his life,
"like a five year old cringing before the Incredible Hulk."
Man up, Warren!   You made a mistake, acted in haste.
The boy was unarmed.  You disgust me.  He didn't have to die.

Mike-Mike, Big Mike had a girlfriend he wanted to marry.
He loved to rap and make music.  He confided to his father,
"Someday the world's gonna know my name."

But not like this, Michael, not like this.
For the rest of us, our lives will be forever a part of Ferguson.

New Arrival

Arrival time: around 2 pm
Date:  the 9th of December, 2014.
Weight:  around four pounds,
all sleek and shiny,
perfectly formed, just as we had expected.

She was late, but it was worth the wait.
We named her Nikki, after Nike, the Spirit of Victory,
in the hope that she would accompany us
to the next Boston Marathon.

After the fitting, the physical therapist
asked her to walk,
and with help, she took her first steps
in over a year.

Now she will have no pain.
She can walk again,
wearing her mother's crocheted socks
with "Spirit of Victory" on the cuffs.
She  has winged feet,
a titanium leg,
and a new lease on life.

You Were There

You were there

when our father died

 and I thought my life was over.

I never cried.

You were there

at the white columned school
when I had to leave,

orphaned,

to live with you.

You were there to see me through.

You were there

when high waters came,

bringing water, and candles, and food,

and so many things to help us through.

You were there when I could have died

and didn't because my faith pulled me through.

You were there,

and You.

You were there when my heart was broken

over a lapse in judgement.

It's not a sin to be lonely,

is it?

You were there,

and You.

You were there, when I sold my house.

And moved to a new one.

When I lost my knee

and got a new one.

Yours was the last face I saw

that day,

and the first one I thought of 

this morning, the first of a New Year.

So fresh with promise.

So bright with sunshine.

And You.