(re: “Love Knows Color,” 11/21):
I could write a poem
about the guns
sometimes aimed
at interracial couples
by black and white snipers
(hmmm. some of whom are
on your staff)
so let me try:
(by the way, i’m
a black guy)
white folks who
look at you like a science project
black women who stare
the way hitler would stare
at a plate of gefilte fish.
the salesclerk (black) who asked
my companion
“is that man bothering you?”
when i touched her hair.
folks who think your life
is a brotherhood week poster,
folks who liked me better
when i was married to
a black woman
(you dont have to be
happy in washington,
things just have to look “right”)
the “brother” who called
me o.j.
on “the new u” street.
who say black and white
dont see i to i?
in a world in which these gales
(among others)
rattle one’s shutters,
thank god for someone to
love.
Dupont Circle
via the Internet