black irish

laboring

decades

to grasp

 

i'm a good person?

fun, lively, vibrant?

creative, resourceful, savvy?

generous, loving, kind?

 

still

born

unchosen

turned down

out

 

poor

low

class

less

 

we can be friends? with benefits?

perhaps, somewhat

in love?

worthy of even that, sometimes

 

yet

the day i at last read and re-read

that people choose partners

of the socio-economic status

they themselves were born into

 

decades

for my hands

to unclench

finally to fall

open

in understanding

 

the heart of the matter

isn't heart at all

what's minded to

is money

and

not "who are you?"

or "how do you do?"

but "what do you do?"

"what power do you give me?"

 

i admit to

an innocence of sorts

in believing

that given

intelligence

emotion

senses

and spirit

any given person

would naturally respond

to the beck

the call

of the nature

of love

itself

first, foremost

 

judging

affection by affinity

kinship by accord

 

instead i find

judgment

of ultimate worth and value

done by comparison

 

i note the tracking:

"what side of the tracks are you from?"

 

tracked down

years of searching

i discover the source

the wellspring

 

why and where

babes like myself

are thrown out

with the bathwater

 

 

 

 

 

 

Done