SITTING AT THE FEET OF MAYA ANGELOU
Gandhi is gone
Gautama is gone
Jesus and Mohammed so long ground
into true believer’s meat
I wouldn’t know them on the street
And Socrates and Plato would speak in Greek
But, right here and right now
so close we almost touch
I bask and revel
in purest presence
and direct transmission
from this poetic patron saint
Will my life and poems change?
This is a woman
who for years did not speak
because her words could kill a man
and now speaks words that can save him
Will my life and poems change?