Dedication (to the man in Cross Roads)

I'm writing this poem for the man

who sells fruits and confectionery in Cross Roads

(though he might never read it);

his sunshine smile every week day morning

(even when the day is  gray with surrender)

suspends judgment, holds avenging angels 
on a sting, has the devil considering
salvation.
                He thanks me for spending
a coin with him; but it is I 
who must thank him for his interest
in my life. He inquires my infant son's
well being and I, in turn, surrender
information about his growth.
His aging bony, bony face is my definition
of forever young-a miracle
of everyday survival sitting
at that stall in Cross Roads
selling fruits and confectionery 
with a smile.


-----

Nicholas Damion Alexander is a teacher of English and Philosophy. He is also a poet. His works have been published in The Jamaica Gleaner, The Jamaica Observer, Caribbean Voice magazine, Small Axe: sx salon, Tongues of the Ocean, Poets against War, The Cartier Street Review, Auckland Poetry, The Black Collegian, Angelfire, Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge, Eos, Truml, Poemhunter, The First Cut, the anthologies Meditations on Divine Names (edited by Maja Trochimczyk, poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles) and So Much Things To Say, an anthology of the first ten years of Calabash Literary Festival (edited by Kwame Dawes). In 2008 he was awarded a fellowship with Calabash International Writers' Workshop. He has also been featured on e-Buffet's online magazine: "Postcards from the people of Earth", Squid Inc. His blog is:http://open.salon.com/blog/nicholas_damion_alexander