Lincoln selfie
A commendable bust of
old Honest Abe,
Installed on a walkway
across from the courthouse
on the shore of Lake Merritt,
Yet sadly they put it
at eye-level and arm's reach
by a wild sidewalk
near the wild end of the Lake,
Mentally-ill street people
mainly African Americans
abide here and are often angry,
sometimes spiteful and malicious,
On the pedestal lay a chiseled rock
more like a stone-age axe
which someone had used to strike
the freshly caste metal
leaving scratches and gouges
Striking such a metal statue
with a rock would be quite painful
so the miscreant must have stopped
but he left the stone he'd used
for others to follow suit
One needed overstate
the tragic irony
to the memory of one
who took a bullet in the head
to free the slaves
Mosque or church
A prayer said
is a benefit to the world
The public library
open to all
a boon to all
Here you can discern scars
from the senseless attack
on his cheek
and on his forehead,
A martyr never stops
being martyred
it's his role
Back the way we came
the pendulum's
return trip
Flag of the City of Oakland
flying upside-down yesterday,
The Town
careless and clueless
January 2018
