Gatherings
jambalaya
rice and peas
smoked turkey
curried goat
gumbo jalofrice
the aroma
announces everyone’s entrance
lids are raised
content sniffed
then kisses & hugs
macaroni and cheese
potato salad
a pause in the conversation
long time no see
how you keeping
echoed all around
what you cooking girl
as another dish is placed on the table
fried okra corn-bread
greens toss green salad
vegetable salad
guacamole and salsa
humus and pita bread
nuts and chips and dips
pastas and pastas and more pastas
chicken smothered in peaches
chicken and pineapple
laughter abounds
children run wildly
they screech part of
the pattern
you sure looking good
is that your mama’s recipe
it sure enough smell some good
jerk chicken fried chicken
baked chicken
bread and bread and bread
peach-cobbler
sweet-potato pineapple-up-side-down cake
chocolate cake
cranberry sauce jelled with
almonds and sherry
lemon pound cake
strawberry swirl cake
buttered-rum cake
mounds and mounds of food
friends & family
sit to break bread
we pile our plates
eat heartily like the deep
rumble of our laughter
we pile more on our plates
food and words spilling
until all we can muster
are satiated grins
we recline
waiting
for this first course to digest
so we can consume more
sumptuous food
a tribute to
our love & friendship
This Is Not Even My Life
So Where Is It
somewhere
in the midst
of everything
there is this realm
called my life
but truly
i can’t seem
to find it
don’t even glimpse it
hidden among
the rubble of demands
buried between the garbage of roles
i’m required to play
but right now
i need it
i desperately
need my life
has anyone seen it
has a life been turned into
the lost and found department
perhaps somebody
kidnapped it
ran off with it
holding out for ransom
mistaken my life
for that of a wealthy person
excuse me
my life
is singularly poor
there are no wealthy relatives
waiting to come to my rescue
i am alone
do you hear me
give me back my life
maybe
a pick-pocketer
snatched it
and upon discovering
it was useless
tossed it in the rubbish
hello
life
where are you
do you hear me calling you
can you answer
has someone gagged you
life! life!
where are you
i need you
please
some body
please help me
point me in the right direction
turn the spot-light
on my life
i promise
i’ll never be so negligent again
i’ll guard my life with my soul
