These City Eyes

"THESE CITY EYES" ex-wives and mothers watching from their porches as they wait for child support. fathers who don't see their children but murder themselves to pay for that *****'s lifestyle return home. down the street cars fight for parking, cars go in and out of the driveway as shopping carts wait for a new lover's hands. they all stare looking at me walk and they wonder. as I walk on, Gould plays in my headphones. I see Gould close his eyes during his hand movements on his piano. these city eyes see one thing and it causes them to reach for their cell phones. the number will be 911. but it won't get called just yet, they stay ready for the moment I make a criminal move. no one stops me to ask who I'm listening to. no one cares of the books I've read today. no one cares why my heart is in another city with the only woman I've ever loved and at that, more than myself. they've conceived a result by conceiving their end to the start of mine. they see the brown skin, the bald head, the long socks, the white shoes and ravaged face on a man who should look younger. they never ask why. they know nothing of me or the children that I've fathered. they know nothing of me or the tears that have fallen from my face like bombs dropped in a war. they know nothing of me or the nights I've given my sickness to the typewriter and pacific. all they know, is the fear in the unknown instead of finding the light in the darkness. today these city eyes see a criminal lowlife and not the poet, as Gould and I live in beauty. By: Chicano Eddie 9-16-2016