dandelions

she used to pick potatoes
and other vegetables
along with her dad
she grew up like that
she grew as big as she could in a shack
next to a huge farmhouse
where there were plenty of rooms
to store the dreams
only she could've imagined

and then came seventeen
in the mid-seventies
she had to harvest her sins
she had to bring another life in

my older brother
who would sit
for five minutes at a time
in the field
being potted
next to one potato,
two potato,
three potato, four

it is no wonder
that my brother
never stays planted
anywhere

his roots don't grow
his roots don't show
he has put on a covering
of gangsta talk-black slang
often times he's mexican
because he can't
settle for being just Indian

it's just not enough
there's a new way for being tough
and it doesn't involve
warrior-like ways
because our warriors
have withered
like picked flowers
dandelions

i too had become that way
as a fool i used to say
"i am yellow but will soon be white"

i am yellow but will soon be white