For National Poetry Day (In Protest)

Before hands

raise high,

to darkened sky;

Before 1 & 2

come together

& day goes by,

allow the pen

to gather might

from the mighty

& clarify the cause.

It’s not about

an anthem, or flags, or

kneeling, or NFL players

or the NBA.

It’s about MURDER,

& Crooked Cops,

an UNFAIR JUSTICE SYSTEM,

and a president,

presiding over INJUSTICE

with a smile, & wink

to white supremacy.

If this were a school of

elementary students,

we could

“shame the ‘right’”

for thinking, and acting, and

being, so wrong—

Alas, it is not,

but if this were

a class

with the leader at the top,

he’d surely be

an ass,

and our knowledge base

would drop

as some are not

heeding the lessons

of our past.

I will not

be a slave today

or tomorrow

or next week

Not for your

corporate greed

or freedom of speech

You cannot

buy my silence

by placing the face

of my foremother

on the 20-dollar-bill.

This is for

the people and

poets and

protesters and

victims of storms

amassed by factors

the federal government

ignores—

says it doesn’t exist.

We shall not

be sheeple,

to be herded and

ignored; shaved and

taken advantage of.

You will see us

in the streets,

tired and weary with

worn shoes and

heavy hearts

yet full of

life and opposition.

For we are

the people, and protesters,

and victims of storms,

amassed by

the factors the federal government

ignores,

trapped in an unfair justice system

with a president

presiding over

injustice, with a

wink & a smile

to white supremacy.