West Oakland Mon Amour
desolation and creation
barking dogs, wild flower invitation
keep out! Keep alive
Shouts of dismay, greetings of warmth
i cannot translate this language
Wash and dry
ramshackle houses
street to street,
it processes me.
Cranes of silver in sunset unveiled
abandoned furry unicorns
towering pines, and broken fences
this oak-land seeds my imagination.
Wonder engulfs fear
hummingbirds and gospel church songs alight
welding giants and monsters of steel
tame the thundering sound of trains and
those imaginary trains on lost tracks
that you cross every so often
Love and hate, glory and defeat rise up
from the pavement
and I feel vulnerable.
But yet
strong.
