a wish
for j.
–by Maiana Minahal
late night and i need to go home
running down polk st. to BART
when from the shadows of the sidewalk
someone calls me by name
i stop, it's one of my students
one of those good writers who left the workshop
because of time constraints
or inconvenience
or one of the million other reasons
a homeless youth has
he's hanging out on the corner
with another young man
just hanging out and meeting people, he says
maybe try to catch a date, he says
his eyes glow, soft moons in his face
and i don't know how to say
what are you doing out here
and i wish you'd come back to class
and why aren't you home right now
writing in your journal
doing homework in bed
why are you standing here on the street
watching for cops
searching out familiar cars
looking for johns
and how i wish
i wish
and then
he pulls out a new poem to show me
so i stand with him for a while longer
we talk about writing for a while longer
and when i finally leave
i tell him
keep writing
i hope
you keep writing
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