Little Sister

Not so long ago
I found you in the Poet & Patriot
drinking Guinness, laughing
under a poster of Che.
I fell in love that day
with your Che
and you
my free spirit sister
the activist
ghost dancer
catcher of dreams
seeker of illusions.

Today
I find you on a bench
in the garden at Villa Soquel
gazing out to sea
ferals rubbing against your ankles.
I sit by you
you smile into infinity.
confined, they say, for your safety
yet, still my free spirit sister
dancing with resident ghosts
weaving dreams
dwelling in illusion.

~photo & text by leh

Today, a Son of Africa

Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama
January 20, 2009, Washington, D.C.

Sevenscore years ago
a race of people bled from the whip.
Twoscore and fourteen years ago
they sat at the back of the bus.
Today, a son of Africa
holds highest office in the land.

Yes we can...

This son of Africa
speaks of our patchwork heritage
while voices from the past
chant, We shall overcome.

Yes we can...

One generation removed from
the ground that Lucy walked
this son of Africa leads
from the house built by slaves.

Yes, we can…
sustain
The Audacity of Hope.


~photo & text by leh