A Poem For Michael
Myself I’ve never been much of a mathematician.
Algebra and stuff didn’t add up to much when I made the decision,
to respond to you, our multi-versed mathematical magician.
Because even I know all things aren’t always equal.
I don’t know what it’s like to grow up black and poor
and to wonder why other kids have more.
Or why no one looks sideways when white kids walk into a store.
It seems this world for you uses a subtraction and division equation.
Giving people who look like me a multiplication table.
We rise to the top like cream even when you’re more capable.
Those who say “Things have changed” are living in a fable.
Maybe they think it’s fine because they have lots on their table.
You have no reason to apologize, I see the sad in your eyes.
That happens when others try to bring you down to size.
But, I sense a power beyond the treatment they rationalize.
There is scripture flowing from your pen,
telling us what your people have dealt with over and over again.
You help me conceptualize that pain,
which enables me to see and realize,
why some might try to bury their blues with drugs and booze.
They think “Nothing is going to change”
They say “F it I’ve got nothing to loose!”
But you you’re a word warrior that’s not the path you choose.
Rewrite it, rethink it, turn it into good news.
Sorrows on a graph, death and molestations.
All these sadness quotients are not merely estimations.
They defy gravity and my limited calculations.
But I can’t read your sorrow without acknowledging
I see your situation.
I hear your brave heartfelt communication.
While still I wonder how you cope with this frustration
Maybe it’s the angels that grace your constellation.
The way you wrote it and I read it
If I were your teacher I’d give you all the credit
Besides in this case you’re the teacher
I say hallelujah brother your life is a prayer.
Keep on speaking preacher.
So I ask what can a math challenged
middle aged white dude do?
People need compassion for what they’ve been through
A thought can grow exponentially beyond me and you,
until it becomes true.
Action Maximization by the many for the few.
Poem by Richard Lamoureux
Dedicated to Michael Ellis.
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