day TWELVE HUNDRED and THIRTY FIVE

4 short untitled poems

I

my blood is bloodnot starting fluid
for a machine
that doesn't
see me
as anything more
than expendable

II

there is no such thing
as normalcy
any politician
who promises normalcy
promises outdated oppression

III

I wonder what
happens when every
last dollar funnels
to the top?

IV

colonization
didn't end
when empires
crumbled
when occupying forces
were ousted

colonization
like a virus
adapted
it comes
with every dollar

spent

--Jason Baldinger