Broken glass,
bottles flung.
Shrapnel
strikes the side of a house.
Vacant lot,
trash dump,
needles
used and discarded,
crack pipes
by the needles.
Gangs,
unwanted warriors,
pimps
selling souls,
prostitutes,
broken bodies,
sidewalk showdowns,
high noon in the hood.
Drag racing,
screeching tires,
street bravado,
false strength.
Front porch seat
to the avenue’s chaos.
Mothers wail into the wind.
Prayers up.
Some answered – others pending.
Fall’s grace,
quiet winter,
renewal spring,
bullet summer.
Repeat.
Shirley Jones-Luke is a poet, writer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Luke holds an MA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing. Her work has been featured in ENUF, Creativity Ezine and The Skinny Poetry Journal. Ms. Luke is currently working on a manuscript of her work.
A Quiet Courage 