Third World Royalty

I said softly

under the moonlight

of fiesta

“I’ll be your Desert Queen

If you’ll be my Cameroonian King.”

He said

“You are my Queen no doubt.”

I told him to get on his knees

to prove his loyalty

Then he dropped to the floor

to worship a goddess

as he should

His kisses were passionately soft

Though his body is twice

the size of mine

He said I taste so good

He loves the sweetness of me

The night drifted

Cabernet was the wine

he gifted

He couldn’t find anything

to open it

I said,

“Well it’s a good thing you have me.”

This queen has been around the block,

and I know a few things.”

“I’ll open that bottle with my ghetto trix.”

“Just watch me.”

He was hesitant

He was set on finding a bottle opener

to impress me

He’s from the third world of Africa

but he left when he was 11

He traded a life of poverty

for servants and lavish things

in the islands of the Philippines

Traded so much

that he didn’t know how to

screw in a lightbulb by the time

he grew up to be 18

When he reached the mainland

of North America

in the Santa Barbara Riviera

Just like him

I left when I was 11

On the other hand

I was forced out of my home

I left a life of one hell to a better one

I wandered the deserts alone

& in my wandering I found god

I learned how to do it all on my own

& after that I didn’t need anyone

Anyone in my life was an addition

to my friendship bracelet

Another chosen charm

I found peace and freedom

in the sacred circle of hell

they call the Mojave

From that I was liberated

and I learned me a few fancy trix

We came to the last store open

& they still didn’t have a bottle opener

I said with my eyes sultry and still,

“Are you ready to see my ghetto trix meow?”

I unveiled my keys and popped open the bottle

in a desert hot second

He looked at me and said,

“If you ever spent time in Cameroon you’d make it."

"The third world breeds a crafty type of genius.”



I replied,

"Well they all say I'm just like my grandma."

"She was an amazing woman."

"Silly, crafty, smart, and strong as hell."

"We even grew up similarly."

"Although I didn't grow up in a war zone per se,

I grew up in the civilized war zone on the skirts of LA."