it is awfully romantic
to imagine that we do not hold yesterday's values in our back pockets
to think we never held these values to someone else's temple
the barrels of our guns do not light every limb of our family trees
we are lying
if we tell you our ancestors wanted the white house to be home to a brown boy
rage no longer pumps through our veins but it sneaks through the holes in our understanding, we are still responsible
and it is awfully romantic
that we sing songs of freedom from oppression in spite of the fear of the woman walking down the sidewalk in the middle of the day
leave love notes in our constitutions after the letters "P.S."
whisper promises to minorities that things will be better then strike them down declaring we've done enough
it's not enough
it is awfully romantic
to believe none of this is relevant anymore
the only relevance of gender is what pronouns to use
the only relevance of skin is our lover's wrapped up in ours
but we are not a love story
even when we want to be
this is not a love letter
it is an apology