TWENTY FIVE

Creative inspiration

Mixed with gas price inflation

Voluntary solitude

Welcomed ingratitude

Served the homeless in Manila

Then become a homeless college student

And mother in America

Racial discrimination justified

As manager proclaimed Black Girl

Unqualified

Gave Jesus his eviction note

While her abusive ex she couldn’t

Wait to promote

Self-employment had to end

As her car became uncooperative

Wrote poems and created soliloquies

Since the voice in her mind

Had to be freed

Degree hanging on the wall

While debt remained stacked 10 feet tall

Apathy knocked on the front door

While shame and disgust waxed the floor

Dreams of the American family

Burst into flames

Along with the hope of wisdom, wealth, and fame