I feel a poem ...

Thumping deep, deep
I feel a poem inside
wriggling within the membrane
of my soul;
            tiny fists beating,
            beating against my being
            trying to break the navel cord,
                                    crying, crying out
                                    to be born on paper
                                    Thumping
                                    deep, so deeply
                                    I feel a poem,
                                                inside
- Don Mattera

Let the children decide...

Let us halt this quibbling
of reform and racial preservation
saying who belongs to which nation
and let the children decide
it is their world
let us burn our uniforms
of old scars and grievances
and call back our spent dreams
and the relics of crass tradition
that hand on our malignant hears
and let the children decide
for it is their world…

- Don Mattera