day FORTY

walkin talkin deportation blues

melanie says

they’re raiding warehouses

down on flatbush avenue

but i can’t find a single article about this online

she says

they’re grabbing everyone

no matter whether you did something or not

but janet says

no no no

i heard he’s only rounding up latinos

like this is some kind of a fucking lottery

of course we’ve all heard the stories

683 rounded up nationwide

a woman ripped out of the cancer ward by ICE agents

sinclair lewis couldn’t even

have made some of this shit up

it’s a good thing orwell

is back on the best seller list

leave it to america to get it right

after the fact

i want to talk about how vile and stupid donald trump is

but it seems redundant here

and really

i should probably keep my mouth shut on this one

as a white dude

i’ve done enough damage

had enough damage done in my name

and maybe my always having something to say

is part of the problem here

honestly i can’t even believe

we’re talking this way in the twenty-first century

or maybe this time is just so ripe

and my naivety knows no bounds

melanie says,

people are staying home from work and hiding

janet says,

latino kids are dropping out of school

and my neighbor won’t even go outside and drive her car

and there actually IS

an article about that stuff in the new york times

melanie sighs

she says, things are getting crazy out there

like life has become one big and bright full moon

and none of us has any cause

to doubt her

the three of us stop talking

one black lady

one latina

and one white boy roy to boot

days in america under this monster trump

are starting to feel like the beginning of the end

the great unwinding and unraveling

of over two hundred years of lies

or maybe just the final fulfillment

of bullshit manifest destiny

last call on founding fathers simply too craven

to bury their greed and hate

and really build that honest and true

city upon a hill

i think….if only we were a smarter breed on these shores

but…

flatbush avenue, man, melanie finally says

and it still can’t find the answer

but whether it’s true or not

it feels like it could happen here now

like the seeds are sown

and the truth is whatever you make it these days

it’s elastic like a piece of gum

that’s lost its flavor

or it really doesn’t exist

at all.

      --John Grochalski