Brooklyn Canvass: a Call-Back

Dear Asian Lady,
When you bought that Chai latte...
I mean, I am sorry
for looking at you like a criminal
would look from the bushes
--the police passing--

I have become something
in the Park Slope shallows;
buzzing in on lit floors--
their hanging art, prayer flags,
Obama regalia

Let's transition to the target,
tactlessly. "It's like your father."
(I said that)
Then a membership appeal.
"It's hard to believe."

case these buildings built of something horrible
while the shadow kills their cover
the dogs bark for their own phones
plastic flapping off like broken feathers
in the black, dawnish air

do you have a moment
for my hands?
or my still young face?
or the banner wrapped around me like some equal fire.