down, flattened-out cold,
right cross to the chin,
body punched senseless…
nothing left…
still, occasional tears drip
a finger shivers:
hope drizzling over boarded-up outlaw schoolhouses
and brokebrick sidewalks…
and another swollen red eye blinks and blinks again,
some crumbling recycled Nikes flex nearby
as a solitary unclenched hand reaches, rereaches,
grunts and grasps
his brother’s arm…
and somebody gets a hammer,
then there are thousands,
red and blue states pounding and painting
building and rebuilding,
songs, voices on the fly,
dreams, dreamed once again
and another new city resuscitates
but tougher this time,
absolutely soulful this time:
a modest angelic eagle with an athletic attitude
America, the Phoenix,
carry on
and begin again
Delray Beach
Spring/Summer, 2010