L MILTON HANKINS Poems

Rising thunderstorm
Sudden rain slamming my roof
Passing overhead.
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Look me straight in the eye
Not askance or a side glance
Or shifty-eyed like you know
You are busted telling me a lie.
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There was a time when my yesterdays and tomorrows
Flowed into a seamless, steady stream of time slowly passing
With little change, nothing appeared to change from day to day -
I did not worry about what another tomorrow might bring
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Somewhere along our southern border
A child cries for her mama tonight, and
She does not know where Papa has gone
She thought the long journey had ended
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Love is like a masterpiece
Framed with a gilded edge,
Unmatched for worth or beauty
Like a pure unbroken pledge.
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The skulls were nearly hidden
By the thicket in the glen
Scattered in ancient cinders
Where a house and barn had been.
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I am beholden to the blank page staring
At me from across my prancing fingers,
Registering thoughts my mind is caring
To express before my eyes shall linger.
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Suppose for a moment you were as rich as Croesus
Wise as Solomon, had the strength of Samson
Suppose you were as a Hollywood star handsome
Could you live in the world with the rest of us?
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Yellow rose buds she requested for her senior prom
Talked about how they would match a satin dress
Did not know where the roses would come from
And, as a young girl of ten, it was anyone's guess.
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Pockets of small militant groups are threatening
While unrest swirls around us in the streets
Election season … or, facing a second Civil War?
Americans find the possibilities ever frightening.
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