LAST CHANCE TO REMEMBER

by KP Liles

United States Post Office, Miami FL, 1922 Photo by William Arthur Fishbaugh,1873-1950

You could vote

and laugh

with dragonfire force.

You could mail letters, 

medicine, the Hope Diamond,

at the Post Office.

You could dine out

indoors. You could visit

splendid national parks.

You could chat

or argue with neighbors

then shake hands afterward.

You could travel

anywhere you could afford.

If you were Black,

Muslim, or loved someone

counter to expectations, 

you could

prove greater joy.

You could imagine. 

You could hear more

than one voice, one name

night and day, in print, 

onscreen, on-air 

or in dreams.

You could feel

faith’s traction.

We had global foods.

Unlimited entertainment.

Such glorious sport—

you’d start cheering

at “land of the free...”

That crowd’s roar!

You could give children

roof, ice cream, ambition

and sleep well for it.

More or less everything

was possible

if you could believe.

KP Liles has penned two poetry collections, Singing Back the Darkness (NYQ Books) and Spring Hunger (Plain View Press). He currently lives in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

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