In NLAPW, NLAPW Poem of the Week

Poem of the Week: Control

NLAPWby NLAPW

Cleo Griffith, Modesto, CA Branch

 

The pest control man came today,

the first encounter,

and I wanted to hug him, cry on his shoulder,

pat his back, say I love you,

not, not for the freedom of spiders and pests,

but because he is a large black man

with a kind demeanor and it is

July 8, 2016 and the week has been

one of horror.

I wanted to say I’m sorry although I am not to blame,

I wanted to say I know you are not to blame,

I wanted to ask how do you bear it

and how can I?

But instead I gave him the check

and said thank you and I’ll see you in three months.

 

Perhaps the world will have changed for all of us

by then.

 

10 comments

  2. Cheri Warzecha says:

    I loved this poem! How many of us had a similar urge to hug people
    of color, and say How much I feel the recent tragedies, How much I
    want to let them know I think of them, wherever they are, and feel a
    great share of their pain, whoever they are.

  3. Cleo Griffith says:

    Thank you, Candace. There is no e-mail noted here but perhaps we can get in touch some way. I am an editor of Song of the San Joaquin which is a quarterly concentrated on the lifestyles of the California Central Valley.

  9. Candace says:

    A very touching, timely poem.
    If you would like to submit any more of your work, I have a literary magazine. You can submit to the email below. It is a free magazine, it pays in copies.
    Keep writing.

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