[43] Home of the Brave, Jeanne Julian

I.
Stopping his bicycle
at her open car window,
he asks a white woman
if he can wash her windshield
for a buck but she says,
no sorry I’m late
handing him the cash
thank you,
he says,
for not being afraid.

II.
A giddy girl
no taller than a picket fence
prances and spins
in the supermarket
beside her mother
studying vegetables
and a man nearby says kindly,
hello there, to the restless child
and she, dancing, says,
I’m not supposed to talk to you.

III.
Strolling in the park
he says, hey young lady,
although they’re both over seventy
and she says,
good morning, then
eyes the handgun
black grip in tanned-leather holster
strapped on his hip below his gut
as they walk on
in opposite directions.