Lemonade stand

we sit on the corner of Motion St.

unripe lemons from old Chester's tree

bag of sugar and some fine tap water

we emptied every one of our ice trays

we set up shop, at the corner of Motion St.

my sister holds the knife

cause she's four years older

I squeeze the lemons into three huge jugs

we both have tart faces

from all of the samples

here we sit, with summer's quenching product

on the corner-

of Motion St.

an older woman is turning onto the street

both her and her dog, noses in the air

Sam shouts to her: HEY LADY WOULD YOU

LIKE SOME COLD LEMONADE!

IT'S ONLY 5CENTS A CUP!

the lady squints a bit, the dog growls

and she stiffens her pace

I am so thirsty but Sam won't let me have any more

that lemonade is for the customers dummy!

she even smacks my hand away

so I drink tap water from our hose

it tastes fuzzy warm

two kids Sam's age wheel by

on mountain bikes

they look over at our table

at our three jugs of lemonade, bag of sugar,

discarded lemon halves, then

they look at us

they laugh, and petal away

Sam looks sad so I feel sad too

it's cause we're new here, Sam told me

I thought to myself, we were here last summer too

more and more people walk by

nobody wants any lemonade

daddy comes and gets us

when the sun is done with its dancing

we sold two cups

both because daddy was really thirsty

now, years later I think of it,

if life gives you a lemonade stand

make sure you're not two black kids