a guy with a
gray afro was
on the #14 bus
this morning
plowing through
the mission where
I first learned my ABC's
A=Asian
B=Black
C=Chicano
and on this bus
going though the neighborhood
it seems like our ABC's are
like those wooden blocks that
we played with as kids that would
eventually get knocked over
and the man with the
gray bumpy afro that
had once been smooth,
sits and watches the world
pass by the window
and another man, a brother,
calls out to him:
say man, that's a nice afro,
looks like the Jackson 5
and the man sings out
ABC, Easy as
1-2-3
and the guy with
the gray afro
sings out
it's simple as
do-re-me
and they kept
singing and the bus
kept moving like a
fish to the smell of water
and when the man
with the gray afro
finished singing the
last line, the other man
said, ok, you got to get
up and spin
and the man with the
gray afro turned slightly
and said
man, I ain't doin' all that now
he turned and
looked ahead with
a half smile
Afro still bumpy
just like the
ride
'(c) 2013 Tony Robles