Things Change

i like change;
i like the unfamiliar;
sameness bores me.
That’s why i live where the seasons change,
That’s why i don’t spend lots of money on clothes or furniture.
Old values are just old,
Time-tested ways narrow my options.
That’s why i live in the city,
that’s why i visit strange places.
What’s interesting is what’s not like me,
what’s entertaining is exotic, alien.
i like eyes that are not round,
skin that is not white, languages i don’t understand;
That’s why i stay in a place where immigrants settle every day.
That’s why i’m not afraid of what this world is coming to.

Pink Grape Nail Polish
(from a NYT news item, 7/7/95)

The words echo across the river
and valley of the Brazilian rainforest,
“Avon calling!”

Women in tiny villages sweep shanties
to prepare for her coming.

Today maybe a hot cinnamon lipstick,
or a pink grape nail polish;
or a scented candle to light
the family table at dinner tonight;
the tiny star earrings
may be just the thing
for the festivale next month.

she’ll want a cool drink when she arrives;
it’s hot on the river and the path to the village
is dry and dusty.

Will she take a chicken in payment today
Or will she insist on gold dust?
she complains when we can’t pay
because she has to pay Avon
out of her husband’s fishing money.

she says we are lucky to have her
because the river is dangerous,
full of piranhas and poisonous water snakes,
and she could fall in,
just like the Avon lady before her. 

copyright 2006