Watching the Enemy
I’m watching
the enemy
I row
his children
around the
Cape of
Good Hope
I open
Chinese
laundries in
plush neighborhoods
& starch
his white
shirts put
on blackface
& take
him on
safari lead
him to
the lions
& cheetahs
rub the
sahib’s
shoulders in
the tent
at night.
I teach
him tennis
& elocution
work on
his cars
clean his
pool dredge
the ocean
for his
shark fin
soup.
I wear
a tuxedo
when the
need calls
a suit
of armor
if I
have to
mud wrestle
with his
mistress.
I sail
his yacht
cook gourmet
polish
the silver.
When the
lights go
out &
the thunder
claps &
the wind
lashes the
rain I
sit by
his bedside
& hold
his trembling
white hand.
It won’t
be long
before he
can’t live
without me.
