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