One Evening’s News By Michelle Pond

I walked into the kitchen with the newspaper in my hand.
My mother knew right away that something was wrong.
“You’re white as a ghost, “ she said.
When I flipped the Local section over, the headline screamed.
“Tonawanda Man Killed in Viet Nam.”
The paper had it wrong.
He wasn’t a man.
He was the boy who took my sister to a school dance.

The Resting Place By Michelle Pond

They speak to me.
Row upon row
of white stones
from the Civil War
to the present
marking the same sorrow
as if time stood still.
It does for those laid to rest
and for those who love them.
Throughout the years, the voices cry:
“Goodbye son, daughter, sister, brother,
husband, wife, mommy, daddy.
We love you and miss you.”
The souls whisper:
“Our wars are over.
We are at peace.
We wish the same for you.”

July 27, 2009

Two Poems by Michelle Pond

Chosen

Went to Hollywood
To go mainstream
Got nothing but
Stormy Weather
Stream dried up anytime
The movies went South
Went back to Harlem
Looking for sympathy
Think I got any?
Count said
“You got chosen.
You’ve got to go back.”
Went back to L.A.
Another blacklist
Ended my stay
Turned to cabaret
To make my living
Could still make people
Turnout and listen
Raised my voice again
When the 60’s came
Marched with Martin
And sang our pain
Conquered Broadway
Like no one else
One-woman show
Ran 14 months
Won  a Tony, too
Ended the set
At ninety-two
imitated
Not the imitator
A jazz icon
Comfortable blowing my own
Horne

______________________

Trio

Saxophone mellows
My mind and my soul each time
I hear its sweet tone

Bass makes sounds deep down
Vibrations go right through you,
Stringing you along

Piano holds the
Key to the tune, creating
Chords in black and white

Grease Lightning By Michelle Pond

This bolt from the blue
gushed up from the sea
instead of dropping down from the sky.
It didn’t strike a single object,
but oozed indiscriminately,
destroying wetlands, wildlife
and workplaces of the water.
Worst of all,
it wasn’t over in a flash.

Grease Lightning By Michelle Pond

This bolt from the blue
gushed up from the sea
instead of dropping down from the sky.
It didn’t strike a single object,
but oozed indiscriminately,
destroying wetlands, wildlife
and workplaces of the water.
Worst of all,
it wasn’t over in a flash.