poem of the day 12.17.12

homegrown

the arab kids are sitting in a pack

they are laughing and throwing trash around

they all have bad, overly gelled haircuts

and wear sunglasses indoors

have their ballcaps cocked sideways

and jeans that go down almost below their asses

they are no worse than any other kids in here

in fact, they are pretty run of the mill

but she singles them out and says to me

this might be racist

but you can just tell that they hate america

and that they are going to grow up to become terrorists

you get all of that from them throwing paper? i say

we have homegrown ones now, she continues

it’s on the news every night

some kid from wisconsin or somewhere

trying to blow up the federal reserve or something

i probably hate america more than they do, i say

don’t say that, she says

as we watch the arab kids laugh and share their headphones

you never know who’s listening

no one is ever really listening in this country, i say

that’s part of the problem

these kids are different, she says

it’s in their eyes

they look like regular assholes, i tell her

they’re homegrown, she says

as two of the arab kids get up

and start shoving each other playfully

look at them, she says

they’ve been raised to assimilate

to act just like the other kids

and then one day they get the call and …..

for christ’s sake, i say

that’s what you really believe?

take a good look at them

so i do

but i still don’t see it

i just see asshole teenagers

doing the stupid things that they always do

one day you’ll see one of those kids on the news

he’ll have tried to blow up a bank or a bridge or something

maybe he’ll be on a variety show, i say,

when one kid starts dancing to the music

but she frowns because now is not the time for jokes

and protecting this great nation is serious business

it’s not the same here, she says

america is different than when i was a kid

i don’t feel safe anywhere in this country now

it’s been the same horrifying mess

for over two-hundred years, i tell her

but she shakes her head

glares at the arab kids as they make their way outside

mark my words, she says

one day they’re all going to strike

and it’ll be those homegrown ones

who will get us in the end.