Requiem for a Trombone ©

Anyone home
when Katrina raped
New Orleans?
Shining medals in
San Diego -
feline feet on
Fifth Avenue,
(pretty shoes, dear Ferragamo)...
You knew too well
she was coming;
your fax machines
remained silent.

Flood and fire,
men become ghosts,
walk in poison.
Forced to
endure
then
forced to
leave,
Dame Liberty could
feel their tears,
they failed to catch
your attention.

To skin too
dark fades on
paper,
your compassion
drowned in
a swamp.

Is it your way
to obey God;
that Bill of Rights
for every soul?
The cavalry arrived
too late;
how many more
will you
let fall?
So white that
dome in
Washington.