MADE IN THE USA
For Lois Houston

 No matter
how many times
you were spit at
and called a nigger,
you refused
to pack your bags
and clean out
your desk at the Embassy.
You weren't going
to let the skinheads
run you out of Spain,
nor were you going
to allow those at the Embassy
to do the same.
You showed the kind of courage
I've seen only in John Wayne movies.
I can still imagine
the running figure
of the skinhead
you fought off,
just yards away
from the Embassy gates,
and your cries for help,
that were never answered,
and never will be.

-- by Neil Raymond Ricco

   U. S. Embassy,
     Madrid, Spain