“America the Great”

The words sealed my fate,

As I danced through the streets that night.

Because this country of liberty,

Offered me no safety,

When the streetlights dimmed and blended into the opaque sky,

And his hands ripped out from the darkness and pulled me in.

 

“America the Great”

But I began to deflate

As his hands tore at the clothes I’d been told would keep me safe

Because my legs weren’t showing and my arms weren’t showing and my breasts were tucked inside a turtleneck blouse but

He still seemed to find a way to validate

The actions bestowed upon me.

 

“America the Great”

A phrase reverberated

When I’m finally able to peel myself off the ground.

The rain comes hard in waves of iridescent drops

And what’s remaining of my torn, bloody clothes saturate

And when I stumble through the door of my home I’m late

And defeated.

 

“America the Great”

On my mind, the man is a heavy weight

Towards the police station I gravitate

-Hearing sirens rush towards those who could remunerate-

And speaking the words aloud make me nauseated

But so does the thirty days time he gets when he’s

Convicted.

 

“America the Great”

Is where I began to medicate

With the opiums littering the golden streets.

I say I’ll stop once I rehabilitate but

That statement I obliterate

And when the sweet, sweet Haven sinks into my blood I tolerate

The pain that comes later on.

Needles are abundant in the haystack.

 

“America the Great”

But I am lucky because

My skin is white and my hair is straight and I’ve grown up living far away from poverty and,

My meals come thrice a day

Although I might make less than a man, it is still pay

But I still can’t help but hit replay

On the moments the man objectified me.

In the place I call home,

In America the Great.