Poetry

James Maher

By

Don Krieger

Against identification 1

Do you see her legs, her face?

Would you rather know the person?

Do you ask his college, his wealth?

Would you rather know his wife?

Against identification 2

When they come for dinner

do you sit with him while she helps in the kitchen?

Would you walk him home,

or her?

Against identification 3

Sometimes I’m just a harmless old man,

in Starbucks, at the movies.

Do you want that too,

or would you rather be dangerous, brilliant?

On a night street it’s easy to decide;

the old are prey, but not a fit white man.

At work I wear a white coat.

People call me doctor unless they know me.

Then they hold the door.

Against identification 4

When brown faces came to your door

you forsook your earnest money

with grateful relief.

Even today it’s a warm feeling.

Against identification 5

The Russian envoy was murdered today

by a Turkish cop

who cried “Aleppo.”

Good riddance to all three.

Don Krieger

I have built satellites, worked in the operating room, been in a cult, …

I earn my living as part of a group which is trying to understand and treat head injury.

In my poetry and short blog pieces, I want to express ideas with unambiguous clarity and intensity.

I willingly sacrifice rhyme and meter, art, cleverness, elegance, and beauty for these.