“And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied.
(Lk 10:29)

House Call

Elizabeth Ann Jenkins
dead Black lady
lying on the floor
where you took
your last breath

I never knew
you were slowly
starving to death
all these months

did your black
skin keep you
from calling me

would I have
listened had you
done so

neither of us
can answer now

the blood has left
your lips—your finger tips

my mind has stopped
my mouth cannot speak

while I grasp
the hands of
your survivors
 

J. Janda