Parking Lot by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Titus Kaphar - The Jerome Project 2014 

.         oil on panel with gold and tar • 10 x 7 x 1 inches

Parking Lot
by Reginald Dwayne Betts

A confession begins when I walk into a parking lot.
Near empty, the darkness a kettle. The burner against
My skin cold like any story that ends this way.
The parking lot more of an opening than an opportunity.
The man was waiting for home, asleep in a car after
A working man's day. Everything I  know of home
Is captured by the image of a man running from 
The police, his arms flailing unlike any bird you'd expect
To fly. Walking into a parking lot begins a confession.
The burner is a key & afterwards there will be no home
To find. My boots echoed against the black of asphalt.
Hours before I flashed the burner on that family, I kissed
My kid goodnight. I told a woman that I loved her.
But when has love ever been enough.