To Grow Their Wealth

There is this story about a young woman

who moved from San Francisco

to Edenton, North Carolina, in 1890. 

She was the wife of a wealthy banker, 

and for some reason there was an interest

in Edenton, of all places, for this semi-wealthy

couple to relocate to to expand and grow

their wealth.

Raleigh, NC
Jan. 2013

Enlightened Men

Tattered blue shirt, 

and navy-blue sweat pants–

a 10-inch knife hanging

out of the left pocket–

are worn by the fisherman. 

His black skin is as tough

as leather, seemingly sown 

onto his face, which has a tired 

expression, neither sad

nor happy, neither affirming

success nor affirming failure. 

He moves to park a moped

on the sidewalk by the coffee

house as he positions two fishing

poles and a bucket of tools, and 

I wonder how he drives 

all that stuff down the road, 

remembering that Jesus’s

disciples were fishermen, too. 

Raleigh, NC

Aril 11, 2013