TO AN APPARITION

________________

How could you forsake

The affection I

Gave to you?

How could you forsake

The affection you'd

Given back?

How could you forget

The affection we'd 

Mutually felt?

Aren't artists

And writers

Good enough

For you anymore?

Are the strange ones

Scaring you

That much?

Why did you detest

Black people

So suddenly?

Do you

Detest me

So fiercely?

So actively?

Was it the fact

That I lived in the

Mission District

And not Pacific Heights?

Was it me having

Less money?

Was it the 

Wealthy bearded

White tech dude

You fancied more

Than the struggling

Young Black writer

Who stood loyally

In your corner?

Are you

Still hella salty 

At me?

Are you even a bit 

Surprised that I 

Detest you?

For pushing me out?

For not wanting

To be near you now

 

SAN FRANCISCO?

______________

W: 3.2.18

 

Hella: San Francisco Bay Area slang for "very".

 

Salty: San Francisco Bay Area slang for "angry" or "bitter".

 

[ From the book Discovery, Southern Arizona Press, 2024. ]