Cake and Lemonade for Neighbors

Where I want to live

neighbors gather

on front porches, watch

their children play

across multiple front yards, laugh

in Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, English, talk 

about back-in-the-day, share 

sweet and savory snacks, lend 

each other a cup of sugar or flour, borrow 

hedge trimmers, a shovel, or rake, help 

with chores when need be, apologize 

when need be, offer

a word of advice (not more), drum,

strum guitars, and pluck banjos, make

a little noise sometimes, sometimes bring 

out a kitchen chair so everyone finds

a comfortable place to sit

on the unscreened 

wide or narrow porch

or on the stoop. Some-

times just enjoy all 

black brown white

golden quiet together

From Where I Want to Live: Poems for Fair and Affordable Housing (Little Bird Press, 2018)