Mixed Couple on the Morning Train
Chicago, 2009
Because he works in an office and is white
and because she who tans anyway has just
returned from a week at the Beach,
the commuters are certain she’s not black
yet they rustle in their seats.
They want to see her hands flick.
They want to see if rivers run dark
through ivory palms.
Martin may be dead
and Obama may have won
but in Chicago this morning at dawn
a rainbow of people
still rustle in their seats.
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We have elected an African-American as president of the United States
and we have declared a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King,
but some things may never change, and maybe that's normal
for the human condition, whatever the race.
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