December 29

for Susan

It's the very idea Detroit
Made something other
Than the occasional okay
Cadillac, or gave
Aretha a chance to sing
"A Change is Gonna Come"
Into the closed hearts
Of an angry public
In cities not that distant:
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,
Or Hoboken, New Jersey,
Where, God knows, they don't
Give up Sinatra easily.
So Detroit made you,
And the change did come.
I wake up this morning
In awe and in love; turn
In the direction I know
Leads to you, and whisper
This isn't a Cadillac, not
In a million haunted dreams,
But we're cruising. We're
Cruising, and I'm telling you
All the stoplights are planted
In some other place.
Remember? We had coffee
There and sighed a bit over
Something, perhaps
A birthday. There is always
Someone singing to our souls.

Copyright © 2005 by Sam Pereira

Brian Leary and the fine folks at 42opus recently published this poem, which I link to here in the hopes of sharing with the regular viewers of this site. Many fine works there by others, so check them all out.

The Holy Waters of Penzance