Immigrant's tale

We bend and we bow
we fold into ourselves
we tuck our identity in
we don't want to be seen
To be seen
is to be targeted
To be seen
is to have
an old white man
ask you to
shove your shopping cart
out of his privileged way
merely by the stare on his face
So we bend and we bow
we fold into ourselves
we tuck our identity in
Being brown
by default
is being bad. 

Boiling point

If you ask me
to boil water
for three minutes
I'll let it boil
for four
That's the kind
of person I am
A little
over the top.

Balanced checks

They never really were close
but they were inseparable
the way
they orbited
one another
in a triangle
of treachery
the constant
affirmation
that one of them
had not outdone the other.
The checks and balances
became unbearable
if you were a bystander
But, for them
it was the only way to be.
They built a family legacy
on forgotten hurts. 

Runner's dilemma

I ran
so long
my shape
shifted
in the shadows. 

The grief wall

It is not something
you look for
or expect
until you
run into it
head on
head first
the grief wall
behind which
you can lurk
beyond which
you cannot scale
You oughta know
that your grief
won't be private anymore
You'll be in line
at a grocery store
where you'll dissolve
into a puddle of tears
You'll be at a happy hour
with good friends
when something small
will set you off
Your grief wall
is yours to scale
Do it
at your pace.

Dear Dr. Ford, I am with you all the way

Burn her name
in your memory
Sear it on your skin
A tattoo, if you will
Christine Blasey Ford
An unlikely hero
an unfortunate victim
The manspreading
mansplaining class of today
took her to court
to the cleaners
She risked it all.
She lost it all.