He Said Waltz with Me
till the soft cloth
hammers shatter
and no longer reach
the strings
till the metal pedals
wear down to nubs
unable to dampen
the music rings
The American Political Sestina
“…the American political poem is a safe poem.”
—from “Political Poetry” by Kwame Dawes
A daughter asks her mother if humanitarian is the
same thing as volunteer. They are an American
family – a wine-salesman, a teacher, far from political.
Mythomania
For years, the only way to speak was to lie. Have you brushed today? Yes. Are you still in bed? No. Have you eaten since yesterday? Yes.
Who
who
more inhumane
than
who
more brutal
than
who
who
pounded
bloodied
broken
Thaathaa
My papa’s papa used to run after the wooden cart of prasadam
each dawn for food
Young feet bleeding over the rough road.
Bestiary
All my life I’ve wanted to knit an aardvark
not this endless succession of zebras—
black and white wool seems sterile
and the stripes never come out lifelike.