Martin Luther King Day with Frank & Sonny

Martin Luther King Day with Frank & Sonny

First hour we were Professor Thieve, 

French Fry Professor,

& Professor Protector. We thieved

three jewels from the living room, 

then Chinese food 

plastic moose in blue saucepan

then discussed if the soccer ball in the saucepan

was a pie. Second hour 

we extruded plastic 

into a volcano, a phone, & 

a hearing-aid-microphone. Third 

hour we loud talked 

on telephones from private spots 

in the bedroom, which 

for French Fry Professor

was bed, sucking his thumb.

Fourth hour. All that loot 

on the floor made it crazy for our feet

so we turned into Traders & raided 

the store for a cat & a fire bird 

in exchange for 40-dollar bills. Lunchtime

I said I was alive when MLK was alive.

Professor Thieve said MLK wasn’t really 

so old & I got out my phone 

& we looked at his face.

I told them my mother 

had stood in the kitchen 

& heard it on the radio

& shouted to my father upstairs.

Professor Thieve & French Fry Professor

shared a banana I’d cut in coins & asked

who shot MLK & I showed them the face

& I regretted

the facts

one of which was that some people

don’t think he acted alone.