Watts UpRise is a finalist of the 2022 Press 53 Award for Poetry and a featured poem, “Compton, An Energy-Fueled Dark Star” is nominated for a 2021 Pushcart Prize.
Donald J. Trump’s hiss hollows me
his virulence, like swindlers, sidle up
to travelers armchair quarterbacks.
Dreading deadly colds, flu, I shudder, afraid
Riding his bicycle on a sidewalk
riding his bike on the wrong side
his bike didn’t have lights
his bike safe from The Rona infected buses
he stole a glance at a two sheriff’s deputies
a reservoir of resentment
ANGER MANAGEMENT IN A TIME OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND RIOTOUS GRIEF
First, understand what you call “a riot”
was the Watts rebellion ending our 1965
Little League season. No last-inning strikeout
but choking smoke, thick of burning rubber.
No walk-off homerun, but smoldering wood.
