Took the wrong turn
or maybe the right turn
on my way to Rick’s
over on 9th and Maine.
While I surveyed the block,
a silhouette
in an upstairs window caught my eye.
“Was this? Oh why yes it was!”
Indeed. A
slender figure disrobing–shimmying
out of some tight jeans with the lights on,
no blinds,
curtains open,
in front of a full length mirror.
What did I do to get so lucky?
Look at what the Gods laid on my plate
It would be disrespectful
not to at least take a second to watch the show.
For if God didn’t want me to look,
he wouldn’t have given her such a beautiful figure.
But a voice from out of the shadows
warned
“Look at yourself!
You are a black man
leaning against a tree on a dark night,
gaping at the window of a white woman in a red state.
Explain this so called good fortune to the Lawrence police.”
I begrudgingly relented.
I knew that voice was right.
Plus someone was waiting for me.
The second half of the Lakers game was certainly under way.
I looked around and made sure no figures were watching me from their windows–
dialing up the authorities out of neighborly concern.
I took one last look as she pranced around in her bra and underwear.
The show was over.
Life can be so unfair sometimes.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Nuclear Polio Vaccination 
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