Handlebars

Perhaps we're just handlebars--
handholds, walkers,
railings, banisters,
sissy bars--
in relation to
one another

crutches under
the sweaty pits of
our fellow stumblers
in times of being broken,
hurt or in pain

maybe one time we
can be the difference
between someone making it
onto the bus or eating shit
in the dirty wet street

if only we'd each reach
out, wide-eyed,
with a hand
filled with trust
for a stranger

burning like a Lady
of Guadalupe candle
on an altar
made of flowers, water, air,
metal and dirt,
fresh fruit and feathers