Words

There is something hidden
behind the phrases we speak to each other;
words left unsaid
that guard our mouths
and stand like lily white picket fenses
in upper middle class neighborhoods
put there to keep the "peace"
to be sociable
to make good neighbors
because
no one really trusts the truth.
It's like
wide open range words
rogues, rebels
that aren't afraid
to roll down hills or play in tall grass
in somebody else's yard
getting lost among the weeds-
That truth maybe forgotten
but doesn't lose it's color
even when the weather
is no longer fair
and time tries to fade its meaning,
its intent.
These words stick and stand their ground
whether we choose to speak them
or not.

Playground

Africans, Spaniards, Europeans
descendants of warring countries
Religious or otherwise
Come together in innocence
Unaware of history's precedence
and instead of bullets and hate
they throw sand
and laugh in the sun
undaunted by mosquito bites
and their imminent futures
because we know such things
as playgrounds and innocence and inclusion
don't last forever.