"River of Currency"

A poem that never got old and I wish would go away

Two weeks ago, I walked with my brother, his wife and my nieces through the Lower East Side of New York City. We got ice cream on the edge of Little Italy, fresh fruit in Chinatown and visited the Museum of Chinese in America.

And then I passed Bar 169.

In summer 2008, I hosted a “Summer Slam” poetry series right off the F-Train and I performed the poem, “River of Currency”. It captured the story of my Momma, working folks in Virginia and the reality of just how far the Big Apple was financially from Brodnax – the town where I grew up. Check out the updated version of the piece originally commissioned by the incomparable Tara Bracco, founder of Poetic People Power in 2006 is featured today.

I wish the words didn’t still ring true but they resound more than they did then, as inequality has only expanded in the divided states of America.