Avoid Route 91 after dark.
it’s not safe to be dark out where
the streetlights end / the wheat takes over
constantly scanning the rearview mirror
for approaching headlights
knowing there’s nowhere to run
the engine can’t outpace the anger
a hate born of fear / a fear born of ignorance
not so far from here, in planetary terms
they’d ask for your papers / flashlights
poking your eyes through the car window
obscuring the face of The State
on Route 91 they’ll just run you off
force you to the side of the road
pull you from the car / have their way
here in the dark wheat fields
nothing but the sound of the wind
and the engine they never turn off
rumbling back there on the roadside
they don’t care if you see their faces
who would you tell?
27 August 2012
New York City
/ / /
This poem was inspired by an article written by Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Atlantic. The title is a line from the article. LINK
Wow – what a powerful poem!
One gets the feeling that racism, like “ethnic cleansing” or “legitimate rape”, will never go away. Hate to tell my students that or think that our grandson will also have to deal with this human pollution.
Thanks, Richard. I know just what you mean. I think in many ways things are becoming more deeply ingrained in us again. We’re getting worse, not better.