Halfway Downs
Hard earth against them,
they stubbornly scramble,
leaving behind the struggle,
faces streaked with
poverty, setting jaws
and spark of the world's
grasping flame, taking
all hurtful steps, they
stand straighter for it
in the end,
all the insults woven
into a carpet, then thrown
out the window,
starting halfway down,
they rise way up.
Dollhouse
Each doll is arranged and crafted
Carefully, dressed to the tiniest detail
A child's hand was so cautious
Delicately placing until lights dim
All hell, as they say, breaks loose
Mother doll takes out her minute flask
She is tired of this toy ordeal
Father doll stays on the computer
Doing "research" - mother knows
What that means, this is not her first
Rodeo, oh buddy oh boy
She even has a program to track
Her doll husband's online movements
Baby doll is trying desperately to find
A way to tell them she is pregnant
Do not worry - she is in love, the daddy
A military man from the guest room
There is a sound in the yard, if you could
Call it a yard, and Father doll goes to check
Screaming profanity at the neighbor's dog
Brandishing his useless plastic shotgun
Step away from that window, Mother doll
Says, You are just a plaything
Father doll returns, deflated, plopping down
On the couch that is never comfortable
While the child snores lightly in her bed.
Less Than Wise
A less than wise man
once said to me that an
African American President
made people more racist
As if a sudden knowledge
of the sun makes us hotter
or a sudden awareness
of our ignorance makes us
ignorant; sorry to say, dear
sir, that the condition exists
apart from the stimulus
I simply did not know
what to say except to blink
and walk away.
JD DeHart is a writer and teacher. He has two poetry projects available at Origami Poetry.