poem of the day 09.16.10

tea bagged

the muslim family
on the street
spend their morning
looking at their car
the one with
the windows busted out of it
the green glass
scattered on the sidewalk
in tiny cubes
the day after a primary election
in brooklyn, u.s.a.
the political postcards
still hammered into yards
the smiling faces of politicians
promising disgust
the muslim family stone-faced
their big american car broken
no other big american cars touched
on the whole block
the muslim boy looking at me
fat from the land
with my long hair and beard
safe and white
a three-hundred dollar toy
in my pocket
playing my whole music collection
as i walk along
toward a sea of flags
and traffic
dipping down the next block.