I’ve been working on a verse novel for a couple of months and thought I would share one of the poems from there.

Josue

Useless Knowledge

How come so many think they know?
Schools…
Police…
Politicians…
But they do so little

Back home the corruption is visible
A way of life
Here the transparency
Hides the acts of omission
And commission
Where those with the means
Be it green or gringo
Are taken care of

They keep their power
Mystified in the language of law
Hushed to order behind closed doors
Their promises doing nothing for my family
Legally here, we are barely surviving,
Trying to get ahead, and now
My son is dead
While they all talk of the risks they knew he faced

How come they never know
What to do
In school
Or on the beat
Or after they are elected
So the American dream can be real
Maybe if they were as smart as they think
Or as compassionate as they wrongly believe
Or in it for a better society

My son would still be here.