do you hear that loud ringing
in your ear?
the sound of the locusts applauding your new leader
swarm to devour everything growing
make way for new world order the new american dream
all hail your 45th president Mr. donald trump
do you hear the white noise
marching down the streets of 5th Avenue
chanting “USA USA USA” with picket signs that look like torches
with grins that look like the 1800s a celebration of renewed greatness
do you hear the white man
calling his work a movement
history repeated
a reflection of the people
do you hear the white men
taking back their country, painting it red
the spit in their mouths
lubricating their crooked yellow smiles
flames
burn the love poems in my journal
tell them they don’t matter
like we don’t matter cause we don’t matter
blood
cover the soles of our shoes and
the front of our shins as we tread
hundreds of dead black bodies on the way to work
tears
drawn from those overwhelmed with
thought of america’s future and past greatness
evaporate into nothing
hatred
painted on walls of elevator doors
the left side of a Christian church
the tongue of a white wing boy uncloseted
have you ever felt like you were going to vomit
a man you never even swallowed
watch your President shake his hand
your President's palms embracing last nights snack with mask of reluctance and nausea
do you fantasize blood
as red and orange as your country's hands
are your thoughts as black
as your skin and your funeral garment
we gon' be alright
this ain't the first time we chose the wrong man
ain't the first time the wrong man chose us
ain't the first time our hearts dropped to our stomachs and we still be here
so are you ready to step outside tomorrow mourning
and the next day and the next day and the next day
and fake a smile at your neighbors who tried to kill you
during last night’s purge
are you ready to send your children off to school
knowing they need no crayon to illustrate oppression
fearing livelihood and conversation to
be
to decide on
the highroad, or highway to hell
when you already occupy it, when you already live there
revolt
no dream too big
no challenge too great
no country too large
nothing beyond reach for the rich white man
they took it back
they took us back
and we watched in horror
thought it a joke treat it a joke
he really pulled it off
he really pulled it off