where is the penny candy Malthus
(for Trayvon Martin)
here in America
as I imagine it does
in most industrialized places
the boulevard strips you down to
a corner-streeted jungle scene
where being seen at day
means being scared at night
rabbits in daylight
run suited clamors
more pie from the sky lines
appropriations and entitlements
the long snaked wait
of hungry mouths
that stay hungry
because
it’s good for business
as they remove doubt
as to why
the soul starves first here
each predicate verb
hurls rope across chasms
that further dilute
the meaning of words
these spasms of reactionary
shrink-wrapped consumerism that
the television says
must be irradiated
as opposed to something
along the way of Love
which just shines
like smiles do
so instead we
radiate little seductions
and become
oil sheen thin filmed
versions of our humanity
all reflection
on the water
with no fangs
to bite the hands
of this land of liberty’s
crippling wet-nursing
where every child
seems to say
please ma’am
may I have
some more
today
EJR ©
"the boulevard strips you down to
ReplyDeletea corner-streeted jungle scene"
Powerful write!