Hope can surprise you, it can survive the odds against it… The soul is nothing more than love, limitless, endless…. —Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses
I offer her cho chos but she never accepts even when I beg She has a teacher’s enunciation when she does talk The street residents call her mom The church outreach workers tell me she’s been out here a long time I slipped a bogo burger in her bag when she went to the fast-food restroom to freshen up She hugged me and wished me blessings This, I said is my church tithe I felt it was better placed She favors my mamma Transitioned these 4 years before Mother’s Day She is a coloring mix of Aztec and afro always has a pixie smile Some inner joke perhaps about those who think they have better Some punch line who will inherit the earth
©2021 Gayle Bell
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