Human

for that boy who kept showing up in my prayers all day, and made the sirens worry me. this poem was supposed to swing into something about changing your name and thus stepping into a new identity and future, but i guess thats for another poem, another time.

human
wide smile, white teeth
broad chest accompanied with belly
soft smell of berries blue
that shirt you wont dare leave
shy about your hands
but not for where you place them
that strut blends your limp
speak of respect confused with fear

sometimes words are easy
but names are always earned
never cheaply given

sister's blood still fresh
days of hunger dont forget
and all those nights of worry
sleeping in the jungle
thinking 'if tomorrow...'

tiny silver pieces:
money
death
destruction
guilt so far displaced
yet i cannot condemn
after all, you're human
or should i say for me?

wear a symbol
shout the title
can never see that first
a hero always forward
human in the mix

members slowly people
people always human
your gang is just a group
of hurting, hungry humans

and Jesus loves humanity
even the very human
in every one, us all