jimi hendrix said ... "if 6 were 9,
wahhhhl, that would be fine."
was it numbers of which he's speaking,
perhaps our conscience he's tweaking
so we could see clearer than before,
see a woman and not a whore.

maybe he wanted us to see a man,
instead of one with a tan.
darker than most, a man still is he;
a different branch but the same tree.

to keep a man down, like Carver hints,
makes you less than your intent.
we are what we think we are and still,
some so-so much, some others never will.

02/10/2005