Three Poems
Another View, 1972
we sat side by side
on an airplane racing
down the runway
we had shared
praise for our state
—Wisconsin
where I had grown up
as my parents
before me
I gave voice
to my father’s refrain
taxes are so high
she came
from Germany
after the war
replied certainly
she would never
complain about taxes—
we have so much
The Cast
a reflection on Trayvon Martin
Possibility:
a boy
walking home
candy in hand
Suspicion:
a man
on neighborhood watch
gun in hand
Heartbreak:
two parents
wait for his return
then learn their son is dead
Self Defense:
chorus of lawmakers
allow Suspicion
to act on whim
Justice:
a phantom character
does not speak
lurks at the edge
Citizen:
the audience
holds the auditions
and buys the tickets
“There are no facts here”
heard spoken by Yossi Klein Halevi
perspective colors
perception
green facts
turn blue
purple reality
fades to red
our forgotten planet
wobbles
no common ground
to support the whole
humanity waits
for magnetic pull
to bring and hold
opposites together
—Helen Ambuel, Brookfield, WI
