Dashboard lights strobe,
a siren wails,
and before I remember my right
to a well-lit stopping place,
Seven inner-city seventh graders—
constituents of an educational system
struggling to maintain a tenuous grasp
on teachers, funds and hope—
The most exquisite flowers
spring up
in the least likely spots—
lending splashes of color,
They say I'm brave to live here-
A courageous soul, more so than most
And I believe that they intend it
As a compliment to me
The Bible says, in Heaven there will be no night
But it's the approach of night, in all its many-colored splendor,
That shows me God the Master Painter
Little Sweet One
Mine for one inexplicable instant
Hovering over my upturned palm
Like a distracted hummingbird
Pausing on the journey
From your first mother to your forever mom