THE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US
There are mountains between us
running way down deep
beneath the fault line
stretching across the sea
Blue and tremulous
Allegheny sentinels
Stand guard
While Blue Ridge cousins
Kiss and embrace their Highland
Forefathers
There is no doubt we
are unalike
While others pride themselves
in the sacredness
of their sameness
We communion
in our difference
We are unjustly defined
by Oxford unabridged
synonyms and misjudged
by implicit stereotypes
I remember the Sunday
while sitting among the lilacs
in your grandmother’s garden
using the brand-new Boy Scout knife
you pricked your finger and then mine
baptizing me in your blood
forever sanctified
in the glory of our likeness
Gazing into the incandescent
hue of your eyes,
wide and deep as the Pacific
which I have never seen but hear tell of
I have no regrets at rescuing you
from drowning in those words tainted
with ethnocentric mantras and cattle-calls
Cross the line
Breakdown the barriers
Level the pavement
Speak the words
Call their names
Embrace our past
Now . . . Breathe
The Mountains and Oceans Between Us 