Who Am I
by Robert Sucher
Who am I
Hard teeth in
An open mouth
Loose tongue in
An unseen cave
Black man trapped
In a white man’s body
Graded and patched
Notched, adored, scorned
Ignored for years
Entire years at a time
A window left
Open in the rain
A Vagrant in
The museum
looking for a
Place to rest
Should you speak
To me is that
A question or
Good advice
Being unpacked
should you speak
To me I promise
To lie to you
Often with my
Silence and with
Yellow words of
My own vintage
No one can
Copy my yellow
Words they are
My heart’s farts
Spilling from me
In order to
Or so I say
Keep me safe
be careful where
You look friend
If I appear
On time or late
You may remember
My name or the
Sound of my
Voice blind and
Deaf to itself
I am nothing
Pretending not to
be a fugitive
How much longer
Will you ignore
The truth of who
I am waiting
Always alone
First to be touched
Only by you with the
gentleness of a
Falling leaf
And then to
Be held closer
Than your own
Skin than a
Dying wish in
An elevator at
The hospital
where only I
Have come from
So far away
To be with you
In your moment
Of dire need
That close but
No closer then
dear friend who
Sees me as I can
Never and knows
You’re going to die
Release your embrace
Smile say nothing
Just wait patiently
Until I turn my
Face to you again
Robert Sucher is a former adult school ESL and literacy teacher (retired) at LAUSD, and former UTLA activist. From Milwaukee, Wisconsin, went to Will J. Reid and Robert Millikan high schools 1967-went to Woodrow Wilson High School (Dropout), distantly related to the WI LaFollettes. Studied at University of New Mexico, studied Mime at Ecole de Mime, Etienne Decroux and at Ecole de Mime Marcel Marceau in France. Lives in Los Angeles, California.
