america says
look how honest we have become
we do our sins outside now
in daylight
with name tags
and livestreams
and kevlar vests
this is not corruption
this is efficiency
we do not hide the knife
we sell it in the gift shop
engraved with freedom
and a twelve month payment plan
we learned the dark was unnecessary
once we realized nobody cared
so we dragged the monsters into the street
and found they already had jobs
and pensions
and podcasts
and offices
in places where power
corrupts absolutely
listen
this is how a nation saves time
it teaches its children to midwife the fire
instead of trying to put it out
to birth destruction so
we dont have to look at it happening
we call it realism
we call it growth
we call it being done pretending
nostalgia is a loaded gun
passed hand to hand
everyone swearing it is empty
because it belonged to their father
we miss a past that never existed
and hate anyone who remembers clearly
the blind have declared vision intolerant
they say stop staring
stop pointing
stop making us feel seen
so the seeing gouge their own eyes
to be polite
to be safe
to be loved
and we clap
because nothing frightens us more
than someone who can still describe the room
america i am so tired
my mouth is full of broken teeth
from biting my tongue into a shape you like
my back is bent
from carrying history
and being told it never happened
you say love it or leave it
as if love were silence
as if leaving were possible
this is my rebuke
soft enough to quote
sharp enough to cut
empty enough to echo
you will wear it on a shirt
you will chant it without hearing it
you will call it brave
because it does not ask you to change
and still
i write
with this hollow pen
wired straight to the hollow place
because even now
even here
someone is listening
and pretending not to see