Street Poet

Enter with a brown bag clutched, 

Your fiery eyes piercing the ether, 

Your filed words slashing 

To the rhythm of your heart aglow 

Pounding while a kaleidoscope 

Dances before and after 

Like a veil over gross matter 

And God whispers infinite nothings 

In a flash of words conjoined. 

Your world and mine. 

Meet me on a cold street tired, 

Like a phantom take me riding. 

Speak to me of years passing 

Like so many shops and shapes 

Of human dwellings linked 

Like words on lines across forever. 

Leave me casually like a column 

Or a world headline one morning. 

On a sunny day you gave me 

Your bag at my insistence. 

But do you have a guitar you asked 

It is almost as though you knew. 

Come to me again on this journey, 

When the roars and cheers for you 

Keep me strumming and singing. 

Stay with me now. 

Vicente Reyes 

November 27, 1993