Like a squirrel
hiding an acorn,
I've always saved a nugget
more precious than gold -
a tiny piece of me
no one could take away.
I wouldn't lend it,
not even for a moment.
It was my redemption -
the part of me
that belonged to
my ancestry,
that sacred tree with leaves
of glistening platinum
reflecting the richness
of history.
But I think I've lost it.
I've searched everywhere
but the looking glass
stares back blankly...
I want to go back
to a time when a friend
was someone who
sat at my table with me
sharing cheesecake and
talking about
what a jerk
the guy in the next cubicle was,
or my boyfriend was,
or the bus driver was...
not the President
of the most powerful country in the world.
I want to go back
to a time when a neighbor
was someone who asked
if you wanted him to
clear the snow from your driveway
while he had the snow-blower out...
when calling the doctor meant
talking to his receptionist,
not being left on hold...
when service meant
getting what you paid for
and the company was proud!
when people didn't speak
in half words and acronyms
and...
everybody had a roof over their heads.
A time when
teenagers could go to a concert
without going to Heaven...
kids were safe in their classroom
(In God We Trust)
people could go for an evening stroll
on the Champs-Elysees,
on the London Bridge.
