Systematic
When my parents first came to America,
They thought it would unite their broken states of mind
My mother came from a poor family,
But immigrant soil pinched pennies harder than she could
My father left his fishing village,
Only to find himself fishin’ for any job that would take him
It was hard enough to support each other,
Let alone a child,
But nonetheless they had me,
A beautiful baby girl
Who loved colors and could read headlines
Faster than anyone could blink:
“Daddy, where’s Iraq?
What are they doing there?”
I was a good child,
So eager to know
All there is to know about
Such a glorious nation, yet
Too gullible and unsuspecting to know what was waiting for me
I wish I could have learned in a school
Where the students tugged at
The edges of my mouth to make me smile
Instead of the corners of their eyes
To make fun of me
I wish I could have sat amongst kids
Who called me a friend
Instead of a "chink",
At that age,
I was too young
To know that my people helped build the railroads,
But when I grow up I will build us a nation.
One where the economy
Functions correctly
So no parent has to break their back
Trying to put dinner on the table,
Daughter,
I want a country
Where you do not have to walk
Alone at night in fear,
Where you will not have to beg
On your knees for a man
In order to be paid like one
Son,
I want a country
Where you will not be beaten in public
For holding your partner’s hand,
Where you will not be called a pussy
Just because you have the balls
To say, “No, I do not want to fight,”
I’m sharing hallways and half-assed classrooms
With young-blood modern-day citizens
Who are only concerned with
Keeping Up with the Kardashians,
They do not realize that they are the future
But there’s no time left because
The future is now,
How
Can we pledge allegiance to a tattered flag?
Pledge allegiance to a republic That treats some people like objects
Pledge allegiance to one nation,
One god, indivisible,
When we are still divided by color
People striving to live the American dream,
The reality is that this country
Was dead before it started,
Hate-crime hurricanes
Still litter the gutters with the bones of the shamelessly diverse,
They are
Shooting black brothers and
Silencing hijabi sisters
But authority forgets
That you cannot suppress the starving,
We are hungry for justice, not blood
The terror is not overseas
It is ragin’ in our cities
Where we pit our
Politicians and our presidents,
Judge our defendants,
Sic cops on the residents,
America,
Save us from the systems,
Not the streets
Fix the ground on which we stand;
You can't stay blind forever