Exquisite Translucence

They used to come here

The rich kids

Their cars all shiny

They rolled up from

A place near our hood

Walked across the green St. Augustine

A rolling meadow of luck and lawn

Way back

Where the English ivy climbs unchecked

And the fine houses are lined up

Like old maids

Behind an army of trees

Those with eyes of crystal blue

Such light-haired dignity

Sometimes, most couldn’t resist

That skin envy thing

Something inside me

Trying to claw its way out

But I could look at these kids and know

What it was liked to be kissed

By Destiny’s favored offspring

Soft lips and all

And even though I burned with desire

To be golden too

Just them kids walking

Fired up the holiest of dreams

My next pitch

Was to the good god of evenness

I wondered what I’d look like

With sacred skin

And eyes that brimmed with magic

Just so I could measure

The exquisite holiness of the others