excerpt
Once upon a time
In a town called Duzzinknowit
Lived a pre-pubescent
Gluten-allergic
Twelve-year-old poet.
It was an old valley town
About as hot as a roast.
About as flat as a sidewalk
About as dry as rye toast.
Her name is Nina Gold.
And she loves to write.
She wasn't always like that.
She was too uptight.
Then she got a keyboard.
Put her words to beats.
Now words & beats are
How she breathes.
And how she slides
Through life's defeats.
They're what she eats.
Her birthday's August 4.
The same day as Obama's.
The same day as Louis Armstrong's
& Joaquin Perez's mama's.
She always says this proudly.
She's not the wee bit hesitant.
She's still thrilled to share her birthday
With our first
Black President.
i