America
A busy airport, microcosm of our country,
reveals who we are.
The sea of faces, all mixed together
is a beautiful multi-layered work of art.
Our creator, whoever she is,
has a sense of humor with artistic flair.
She wants her "palette" filled with many shades
representing all corners of her earth.
Blacks and browns, sprinkled with hints of yellows and reds
contrast gratefully with the colorless ones that we call white.
Each "tint" brings with it a rich and different experience
that we can absorb, research and celebrate.
How uninteresting our lives would be without the uniqueness
of other-colored people blending and bringing new hues into us.
We are a many-faceted puzzle of blessed cultural diverseness;
music, food, dance, song and art from far and wide.
How tragically misguided, the thought to make America great (white) again.
We're just learning how love really works!
Acceptance, inclusion, waltzing out of our tired comfort zone.
America, you're beautiful just the way you are.
Let's not fuck it up.
Breaking Fast
toss flavorful words together--
scramble them
let them sniff each other--
get familiar
simmer over a low flame
until the aroma wafts
luring
the hungry reader
who eats poetry
for breakfast.
Love Is
pure
honest
natural
deserving
innocent
restorative
necessary
it can also
terrorize
hurt
anger
disappoint
manipulate
torture
love is best
when
those
entering
into it
have
first
read
the
warning
label
Jo Simons is a piano and Music Together teacher in Madison, WI. She is also a first-time author of a biography of her musical parents, My Father Wakes Up Laughing. She started writing poetry in 2011 when her 94-year-old father announced his life was over. He's still here and the oldest orchestra conductor in the world.
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