Heidi from Sweden

we lived

in a diverse neighborhood.

a virtual Ellis Island

on the edge of South Capitol

street in DC.

Italians,

Irish,

Jews, Blacks and Whites,

Browns.

Peruvians

and Mexicans.

kids from West Virginia.

there was a huge family from Nepal

that lived across the street.

but somehow, we got along.

despite our

varying religions

and skin colors.

we never talked politics.

we were young and ignored

the problems

of the world, putting our fingers

into our ears

when our parents discussed

such matters.

we played

ball in the street, with

Mohammed

and Jose,

Bork from Norway.

Dirk from

Germany and Natasha

from the Ukraine.

they taught us how to play

soccer and we taught

them how to play

all of the other games

like baseball, football,

basketball, bowling

and bocci ball. meanwhile,

at the playground

when it got dark,

Heidi from Sweden taught

us a whole lot

of other things.