poem of the day 07.21.15

ripping the military recruitment brochure

out of a young woman’s hands

i couldn’t tell if it was army, navy, air force or marines

to tell the truth they all look the same to me

especially when in uniform

the soldiers on the brochure probably aren’t even soldiers

they look more like fashion models playing dress-up

the point is, i got it away from her

this young black-latina mix on the R train

with golden brown curls and cherry red lips

she was startled at first, she looked like she wanted to hit me

but then i said, give me a minute

you got about ten seconds, asshole, she said

i shook the brochure at her

i said, you don’t really want to do this

she said, but i don’t have any other choice

i said, we all have choices

she said, spoken like a white man in america

what am i supposed to do with my life, work the register at mcdonalds?

i said, what about college?

she said, have you seen my high school?

i was practically strip searched before homeroom

so i said, in the military, you have a twenty-five percent chance

of being sexually assaulted…before boot camp

she laughed, she said, you really don’t know shit

about women in america do you, uncle sam?

i said, i know that women have a higher chance of getting PTSDs

she said, come visit my neighborhood some time

well, i said, it’s not worth it

taking a bullet for some oligarch in a mansion

she said, the systems already stacked against me

she said, look around they’ve already won

guys like you are just the last to catch on, professor

i said, they’ll treat you like a slave

oh man, she said, i don’t even know what to say to that shit

other than give me back my brochure

i said, you’ll be just another automaton in khakis

she said, or just another welfare mom

toting a baby around before i’m twenty

and hated by dudes that look like you

we should work on this together, i said, and find an answer

too little too late, she said

this is the system you set up

it wasn’t me, i said, i’m as much a victim as you are

tom joad you ain’t, she said

snapping her gum and checking her nails

i said, but…..

she just held out her hand

until i took the brochure from behind my back

and gave it to her

she slapped the glossy folder on her knees

and then got up when we reached her stop

wish me luck, uncle sam? she asked.

but i couldn’t

i put my head down and let her go

i looked up only when the train started moving again

into the crowd hustling along on the platform

for nothing but a paycheck and a pipe dream.