between you & me

it’s okay not to be okay.
to live in jersey when you’re from new york.
to look back, ahead,
& missed what’s under your nose.

for someone to adopt or sponsor
a highway
& not your work, not your child.
to go to Ptown & not be gay,
& not be happy.

it’s okay, houston, to read in spanish
when english is the norm,
when they expect you to conform.
to look at women on the streets,
on display
& imagine looking up their skirt
in the dictionary, in google,
or victoria’s secret.

to be wrong because you’re right,
because you write,
or because you are not a lifeguard,
you are from parts unknown.

it’s more than okay
if the sea continues to work the land,
if the mountains your cartography.

it’s more than A-OK
for beantown to win here & there,
for you to numb the senses.

c. a. campos, 2011