I titled this "With Little Encouragement From the Wind"
(note: All poems on this 'blog', have been put under copyright April, 2002 - you're welcome to copy or print; I can always write another...Diane)
A rusty pole
...stuffed...
in an
amber beer bottle;
a ragged flag - 2 foot high
the
faded flag
the 'do or die'
50 yellowed stars - on this field of blue
in reality - it was in a nearby field
and what grew
were thistles; weeds - no freedom seeds
and the red; splotched, botched and patched
flag - hatched
from this listless tree
blowing not with any encouragement from a wind
so mighty and free
This ghetto; crumbling homes - struggling roses
buckhorn stalked the frail children
who played with twigs and sticks
as they dug for
lost coins - they loosened the concrete - looking for treasures
'in the mix'...
Yes, on
this 4th of July -
and I asked...'why'...
Frail; dirty - aged faces framed windows
with eyes scorched from poverty's touch
yet they proudly displayed this frail cloth
in a land they loved; that had
promised them much!
These tenements; owned by slum-lords (recently in the news)
as the headlines told how they were counting
their 'stocks and bonds'
(and their colors were in the chips of blues)
as they mingled their good-fortune
with the Governmet 'sound' which was
that of a
subsidy
paid for - not 'idle'
were
their yachts - they are the 'haves'
and they prosper off the
'have-nots'....
This slender thread of destitution; somewhere a line in our
Constitution - twisted round with the
knot and the 'have' knot
is tightly
'knotted'
in these ties, lies,
...it defies
the balance of what is not
natural,
but confusing and filled
with educated nomenclature
..be they words..
or pictures that
are painted;
oiled,
and foiled
framed - lame
as the pig-hocks that are 'boiled'...
My heart ached on that so-called 'Freedom Day'
and I dragged one foot as I went upon my way
a tiny blister I'd developed
from wearing my new and expensive shoes
I took them off - both, so I could truly feel what it is to
'abuse'
my feet on this broken pathway; with splintered glass
painfully aware of that lower-income
'mass'
Prayers; chanting - haunting me as I left
Yes, I would leave - but speak (now) with
words quite deft:
"It's long past due - yes, this tragedy must end;
...yet there's still no encouragement from the wind!"***
***as of July 4, 2007 - "The Song Remains The Same"
(Yes, that's the title of a Led Zeppelin song/album)
