The justice center remains boarded up
Five years after the protests.
People still ask me
if the city is as dangerous as what they hear.
They seem skeptical when I tell them no,
Private security companies are thriving.
Their employees are like cops
without the unions to protect them.
If they fuck up, they’re easily replaced.
A guy in cut off shorts gets on the bus.
Butterfly tattoos on his thighs.
He should be thrown in jail
A woman torn in half
By her own cleavage
My wrists should be bound
With zip ties
A million microscopic whirlpools
Hungry to suck you under
A million spiral staircases
To tumble down
The blinking lights, the barricades,
the tear gas.
Real power means never being
Held accountable
Real love means smiling
Through the endless waves of hate
The cops may be having difficulty
filling their vacancies,
but there are still plenty of people
eager to commit acts of violence
in order to preserve their fantasy of order.
The front of the car crunched
the side of the bus scraped raw
I’m just calling to see if you’re safe
No need to speak. Just nod
Or shake your head
And I’ll know somehow
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