welcome to my house built w/talk
foundation squat on our grandparents’ chaingang demands
floors creak w/closeted lovers’ Northstar resolve
walls rooms doors roof align w/my mother’s bedtime prayers
welcome to my house filled w/views from a room w/no blues
Peter J. Harris is a writer, producer, publisher, broadcaster, educator, and founding director of The Black Man of Happiness Project, a creative, intellectual and artistic exploration of Black men and joy. Harris has won the American Book Award (2015) & PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award (2015 & 1993). Since the 1970s, Harris has published his poetry, essays, and fiction in a wide range of national publications.