Apr 2012
Will it end as the Mayans predicted?
Will the tornadoes sweep the west,
off the map as smoothly as the tumbleweed drifts?
Off the coast oil seeps into the harbor,
killing life.
Killing economy.
Where will the old shrimpmen go?
When their skiffs are broken down.
Where does anyone go to be safe?
Safety is hidden in the ashes of the towers,
intangible as democratic peace.
Wars blaring in the news,
when will our troops return?
When will New Orleans ever be restore to pre-Katrina days?
Or is it as hopeless as the economy.
15 trillion in debt and still escalading,
as the housing market plummets,
as gas prices rise.
4 dollars a gallon?
I cannot recount time it was under 3.
What has happened to America?
As I walk through the supermarket now,
California strawberries 6.99 a pound?
Can I get a federal discount?
I text you, as I walk down the aisles,
oblivious as the techno music plays,
and obese children beg their mothers-
for that candy bar.
For that is what America has become.
Michelle Obama tries to prevent childhood obesity,
but we all know this is a fruitless claim.
We are too caught up in the fast paced life,
burger and fries? I think yes.
My cart creeks over the cracked linoleum floor,
this is the fourth supermarket company in 5 years!
Yet none cared to fix the ancient floor,
all they can see is profit.
A quick fix,
You can’t just slap a band aid on it America.
I can still see your wounds.
Cash or Credit?
“Credit” I say as I maliciously slide the sleek plastic card.
Eyeing the grocery boy as he aligns the paper bags,
As my I-Phone hums in my jeans pocket.
Steve Jobs died?
I hear Obama’s remark
“He changed the way each of us sees the world”
“Has he really?”
I say as I stare at my Mac
I realize what Allen Ginsberg did when reading your work.
“It occurs to me that I am America”
I too am dependent on technology,
that barricades my sense of reality.
I realize this as I read your enumerations.
I read articles on what state pass gay marriage,
and wonder who you would have married?
I wonder if you would have help salvage New England,
after Irene’s furry damage countless towns.
Would you have took a stand and protested wall street?
Since you are the 99%,
the common man,
in the tyrant of the few.
You would have advocated for immigrants’ rights.
Fought tarnished racist ideas,
corroding the Statue of Liberty’s ideals.
I spray paint the words of your poems,
on the brick buildings in every city.
Hoping to restore America.
Will the tornadoes sweep the west,
off the map as smoothly as the tumbleweed drifts?
Off the coast oil seeps into the harbor,
killing life.
Killing economy.
Where will the old shrimpmen go?
When their skiffs are broken down.
Where does anyone go to be safe?
Safety is hidden in the ashes of the towers,
intangible as democratic peace.
Wars blaring in the news,
when will our troops return?
When will New Orleans ever be restore to pre-Katrina days?
Or is it as hopeless as the economy.
15 trillion in debt and still escalading,
as the housing market plummets,
as gas prices rise.
4 dollars a gallon?
I cannot recount time it was under 3.
What has happened to America?
As I walk through the supermarket now,
California strawberries 6.99 a pound?
Can I get a federal discount?
I text you, as I walk down the aisles,
oblivious as the techno music plays,
and obese children beg their mothers-
for that candy bar.
For that is what America has become.
Michelle Obama tries to prevent childhood obesity,
but we all know this is a fruitless claim.
We are too caught up in the fast paced life,
burger and fries? I think yes.
My cart creeks over the cracked linoleum floor,
this is the fourth supermarket company in 5 years!
Yet none cared to fix the ancient floor,
all they can see is profit.
A quick fix,
You can’t just slap a band aid on it America.
I can still see your wounds.
Cash or Credit?
“Credit” I say as I maliciously slide the sleek plastic card.
Eyeing the grocery boy as he aligns the paper bags,
As my I-Phone hums in my jeans pocket.
Steve Jobs died?
I hear Obama’s remark
“He changed the way each of us sees the world”
“Has he really?”
I say as I stare at my Mac
I realize what Allen Ginsberg did when reading your work.
“It occurs to me that I am America”
I too am dependent on technology,
that barricades my sense of reality.
I realize this as I read your enumerations.
I read articles on what state pass gay marriage,
and wonder who you would have married?
I wonder if you would have help salvage New England,
after Irene’s furry damage countless towns.
Would you have took a stand and protested wall street?
Since you are the 99%,
the common man,
in the tyrant of the few.
You would have advocated for immigrants’ rights.
Fought tarnished racist ideas,
corroding the Statue of Liberty’s ideals.
I spray paint the words of your poems,
on the brick buildings in every city.
Hoping to restore America.
