day ONE THOUSAND and SEVENTY FOUR

the streets are empty

the streets are empty tonight
while children are in cages
america is attached
to screens, no longer aware
of reality. I watch a video
of a young man dying in detention
I am not out in the streets either

the streets are empty today
as the party of obstruction
and corruption tells us
they are clean, that the other
corrupt party is actually corrupt

the streets are empty tonight
and people throughout
the world live in terror
of the autocrat government
that rules this country
destroys their country
their lives in the name
of unfettered greed

the streets are empty today
while across the world
the streets are filling
as humans throw
off authoritarian regimes
they wait for us

the streets are empty
we wonder if it’s too late
we look for heroes to save
this never democracy
christianity and hollywood
have led us astray
there are no singular heroes
we are the heroes
we can stop this
we have to fill the streets

--Jason Baldinger