STILL WAITING

By Claudette Wisdom

(Inspired by stories from children affected by Hurricane Katrina)

How come you live in a house so white,

And I in one so dirty, it welcomes the night?

How can I follow my dreams,

When my pillow and bed are floating in the Gulf Stream?

How come my family has to work so hard,

To get another house and yard?

How come you fly around in jets,

While we wait for the crowed bus that was due at sunset?

Dubbed looters, lawless, even refugees,

But I, one appellee,

Asks all appellants,

Am I not heir to this land?

Is it about magnitude,

Or negritude?

‘Cause the kid in this whirlpool,

Would rather be back in school.