Tuesday, February 28, 2017

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

                                    


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