Brown face in a sea of clouds

This face is
the only one
who belongs

Perhaps she has
been to the store
grocery shopping
goodies for
the children

Maybe she is on
her way home
from working
multiple jobs
as usual

Or did she go
to get her
nails done
a pleasure
not so guilty

She could be on
her way there
job
nails
food

Does it matter
where she is
going?

Probably not
but she does
belong

One day the
sky will open
clear for the sun
to shine through and

the clouds will
disappear

and this brown face
oh she is so beautiful

7/2027

Swallow

Reflections on a boat ride from Key West to the Dry Tortugas

Gulp.
How do you do it?
Aerial dynamo,
over an expanse of water
vast as the earth
from the moon
Is there enough to eat
out there?
On the air
in the empty
wind blowing
shark below
Where does the courage
come from?

I can see you
in her hands – how
Aunt Loret would
hand you to my brother
who promptly let
you go
rickety barn
overhead rafters
not for the timid
no –

A barn swallow
can turn even the most
conceited of homo sapiens
into wimps.

Summer 2026

Viola Liuzzo

They spun her too, this
mother of five from Detroit
because this is what
they do- paint them as
terrorists domestic
defamation is necessary
to deflect from
the murder
this is what they do
nothing new to
see here
same old same old
stand up for your
neighbors
your fellow human travelers
and you too
will be trashed
by the powerful.

In a world of
trash talkers
stand up anyways
it is the only thing
to do
isn’t it?

1/2026

Gold

They say that it
cannot stay
but why would you
want it to?
Better the bluebird
iridescent
in a flutter
or the bark of hackberry
grooving on the river.

The world is made of precious
true with breath and soul
reminding me of
every bit of soil – the
youth I came from
life so glorious around
leave the gaudy behind us
dance to leaf
music of the frog.

12/2025

Delores Haze

They had to flee
actors
directors
in the crosshairs
between truth
and dystopia
life under dictators
of a religious bend

sacred fig
how your seed does grow

this is why I
listen to the cardinal sing –
chip –
move from
branch to branch –
they know, this pair,
dependent upon each other
that predators with
beaks that grind
and claws that strike
loom everywhere

this is why I
stand my ground
tell the truth

fleeing is not a life
not when places
to flee to
disappear forever.

8/2025

Sources include ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’ by Azar Nafisi and the movie ‘The seed of the sacred fig’.

50,000 names

How long does it take
to recite 50,000 names
due process on the run
from those who are detained
the landscapers
the pickers
they clean your toilets too
oh what will you do
what will you do
the names – they are recording
so let us start with this
perhaps fifty in a minute
more or less more or less
the better part of a day
will bring them home to rest
50,000 names
more or less more or less
due process unobtainable
when the jesters are in charge
the stain will last forever
like the face of Emmett Till
the face of Emmett Till
he haunts us still.

7-26-2025

Sacred spaces

The birds are singing here –
this April morning
chaffinches and blackbirds and tits
give a chorus of delight
and a wood pigeon has
found material to build
a nest and I wonder
was this song this music
rising then? April 1945
when a previous generations
of Americans entered here
this route I walk from
the barracks to the
crematorium
the land soaked in
disregard for due process
truth
honor
and I can’t help
but wonder
where the dog killer woman
prances in front of
men in cages will
El Salvador have a
place steeped
in the sacred too?

April 2025
Dachau

The Danes

They have dealt with this
before-
in a previous century
aggression
invasion
occupation
bent on torture
demeaning
dehumanizing
less than
you know how it goes

-they have dealt with this
before-
don’t assume they will break
they did not break
when Christian* held the crown

Dear sweet Greenland
they will not break now

*Christian X King of Denmark from 1912-1947

4/4/2025