How Can We Communicate, When We Refuse to See

This is a poem that I wrote this past Sunday morning, in response to an incident that left me a bit disgusted, both from my indifference and my neighbor's.  They've lived down the street for well over six months and sadly nobody knows anybody's name.  We go about our lives, a few hundred yards away from each other, as if the other does not exist.  While race has never been an issue as far as who I consider friends or decide to get to know, it's sad that it feels like a barrier still.  You see, the newest neighbors are white.  And it almost feels like this is keeping them from introducing themselves, and likewise keeping members of my family from taking the initiative.  Should it still be like this, in 2010?  If so, it makes me question the progress made in the society that we live in.  I hope that you enjoy this piece, but more importantly, I hope that it makes you think.  As a black male, I feel like it is certainly important for me to remember my blackness, including but not limited to the struggles of past black males.  But there are moments in time when focusing on it seems a bit like a regression.  Just some thoughts.

the Rare Poet



My Neighbor's Wave

he lifts one finger
as do I
it is funny to me, that they are both index
he looks off to the side, somewhere in the distance
as his pickup truck rolls by, and I
try my best to reflect disinterest
pretext, that we both learned long ago
he doesn't know me, I don't know him
and yet
we have a history
my white neighbor, so much of what we see in each other
still dictated by history
too coiled by chains that should be absent but
somehow choke us still
he has a story, and so do I
but I doubt we'll ever feel
inclined enough to learn of a man
when we fail to look beyond past and skin
I learned he covets my uniqueness
he learned I covet his wife
and while these two views are entirely wrong
I can't figure out for the life of me why
we exits as two weathered stones
hardening our disposition
refusing to give the other position to the point where
nobody's gaining ground
I wish I could drown my waves of distrust for him
wish he could see me as he sees his own
but today we wave in awkward fingers
and continue to be neighbors
unknown