what would my great-grandpa say?
as he found his seat in a slick fusion restaurant
robe pulled to his knees
to reveal his slip-on shoes making contact with the ground

what would he do, as he sat across from me
would he study my hands, scouring for traces of how i earned my keep?
or would he sit back and bask in watching me place our order
seemingly commanding a small army of busboys and waiters
our tribe produced a chief!

what would it be like for me to look into my great-grandfather’s eyes
would they be welcoming portals into births he celebrated and deaths he mourned?
memories of his friends sharing a story by candlelight?

or would it be like staring into a wall
the concrete slab of hardened operator unimpressed with our circumstance
“you’ve lost your hair – why aren’t you married yet”?
or: “tell your father he owes me some money”

i’d like to think we’d get along fine
we’d finish our last bites of food and make our way outside

where he’d take me by the wrist and lead me to a nearby collecting pool
where he’d teach me how to make a flute from a piece of reed
and twine with its roots
where he’d tell me a salty story about when my grandfather was a teenager
and give me advice on what to look for in the mother of my children

so that one day they may have children
so that one day those children may have children
so that one day of them may sit alone at a restaurant
on a warm Sunday evening
and wonder

what would my great-grandpa say?

As originally shared at Words Tell Stories:

beneath my room
flows a river
every now and then
a song
cracks the floor
and the river
swallows me whole

*  *  *

my sadness
– when it comes –
grabs me with its skinny arm
pulls me below the surface

the next morning
my clothes are crisp and clean
and underneath my feet
one mile of bedrock

*  *  *

i’m crying
in the shower
my face
contorted with pain
are these tears i’m tasting?
or just water

who cares?
isn’t this funny?

you love me as you love
yourself

maybe even
a little less

isn’t that

bliss?

*  *  *

fill my cup
once you’ve filled yours
or soon
we’ll both
be thirsty

*  *  *

your first touch
melts a wall
inside me

how would it be
to feel this warmth
without you?

I found you in a house
Wrapped tightly in coarse wool blankets
The winds of an open plane
Buffeting these pine-wood shingles
Shuddering
With the breath of an overwhelming God

I looked into your eyes and saw a boy
Stalking the planes
Putting flint to steel
Dragging a sled with the breadth
Of his honey pot torso

Together we walk the banks of this river
Your hand in mine
I feed you scraps of meat and dried fruit
Your regale me with stories of men and women
I’ve never met

And as we make our way through gullies and forests
Meadows and mountain
Beside us the river flows
As it does
Patiently waiting for us to step in
And float away
Just me and you

http://www.laoudji.com/?p=1719