Monday, September 11, 2017

day TWO HUNDRED and THIRTY FIVE

American Revenge

It happens every year like clockwork
the comments about how it seems impossible
that yet another year has passed
and yet
here we are.

I wonder how long it will take some people to realize
that anniversaries keep coming.
It’s what they do.

And everywhere you go,
there they are,
two shining buildings
lit up against a skyline
I can barely remember at this point 

or worse
the explosion
the fire
the collapse

the seconds of death that stretched into decades of death.

I wonder about those people,
the ones that hate my city
hate the gay pride parade
hate the Puerto Rican pride parade
Or j’ouvert
hate the Black Lives Matter marches
or the Refuse Fascism gatherings
hate everything this city stands for
on all the days except today.

How today feels like it belongs to them
like it is not a day of reflection and mourning
like it is not a moment to think about the lives
that have been shattered
but instead
it feels clawing, hysterical,
their white fingers gripping
fiercely waving that flag
not with  pride
but with retaliation.

The way today feels like
just another opportunity for
American revenge.

--Ally Malinenko 

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