Roots

"Where lie your roots?",

the world asked.

I read about kings and gods;

how they emptied the lands

and the people.

I read about prophets

that lived among men

and were misheard.

I read poets

that avoided the question

and talked of deeper things.

I could have spat on a strip

from 23andme

and have them tell where my genes

come from--Bengal, Assam or Persia--

as I sit on the side

of an Atfalati hill, a few blocks

from where they buried Mr. Miller

in 1929.

"Where lie his roots?",

I wonder.