New Orleans

this city is
not loving
is a mean-stealing
mama
who lies, jails,
is jealous,
furious
sulks,
hurts,
spews dirt;
brews
beaucoup bucks
sucked
into cracks and crevices
with buried bodies
burst pipes,
broken, bruised streets
few speak
lest tourists flee;
and damn good people,
God's people
are damn tired
as solutions swirl
non-profits birth
prayers said
hearts bled
and the water rises
the ground sinks
trash stinks
choir can't sing
everything's bogged
sogged
no altar
or cool pool
just darkness,
damp incense,
unwritten shifting laws,
rickety walls;
the high priest
can't bless
for too much religion
the people
can't go up or out
too much restriction
the Spirit
can't speak or be heard
too much commotion.
Father God
are we in the belly of the whale?
hear this wail
and spit us OUT!

Clean Up

raw meat roasts
under the sun
in garbage bins
trucks come
move
trash away
residue
remains
stings eyes
brings flies
communities
rise
work
to cleanse, clean
neighbor finds
a power-pressure
sprayer machine
lines up nine
black bins
bleach-water-filled
to the brim
all night
by moonlight;
morning
tipped
on the street
stinking concrete
redeemed,
consecrated;
circulate
with Baking Soda,
final coda,
proud of
warm, restored
sun-softened
black plastic;
last lid
double take...
pure, fresh, runny
excrement
must have happened
this morning
don't want to see
don't want to tell
don't want that smell
stuck in nostrils,
that smell,
residue of hate,
someone's choice to retaliate
keep minds stuck
​in "what the fuck?"
keep city stuck
in pre-hurricane muck.

Risen

risen
beyond my Spirit's
capacity to see
once upon a time
we were in tune
but you've moved
out of my league
and it feels
like the deepest
loss of my life
deeper than
your dad's passing;

and you radiate;

for three years
since the injury
I believed
I had failed
to protect you
but now I see
you are protected
by all this,
from me,
from who you used to be
re-birthed
by what seems a tragedy
into your new, magical
true identity.

Knives and Spoons

Richard and Ray
two knives
to save my life
cut through
expose truth
that hurts,
heals, peels
back skin
I don't know I'm in.

Freddy and Alma
two spoons
snuggle, protect
big connect:
Freddy and me
arm over body
butt backed into
crotch safety;
Alma and me
shared and laughed
about how God
​was getting us
to eat the last
of a loaf's slices
before moving on.

Crossing

hooked
by the certainty
of your PRESENCE
after a "Red Sea"
​led to belief
then 38 years
wandering
encountering
not sedating
doubts, fears,
hates,
old ideas
a life-filled desert
to prepare;
through You,
in You
i’ve prayed
loved
given birth
raised children
praised
worked
seen Freddy through
to You,
moved,
surrendered one day a time
perfectly imperfectly
thousands
millions of times
you have lovingly said
"Pay attention to me"
heard aha
in sacred pause
or Big Book smacks,
Biblical laws
painful life whacks;
and now, Lord,
you break off
this twig to
be taken
cross the Jordan
enter the land
you've chosen
where disbelief,
is ready to reap
and I am ready
to give
say yes,
live
to listen
be guided
to leave pride
submerged
under river's body
to widen tribe,
the mystical body
to further spread
therein your vine
from this twig-weak
but not weary woman
now graced by you
with a spiritual spine.