a man was shot, walk on!
i still live,
and have been working tirelessly,
on a full length version,
of RAGING MEDITATIONS,
from which,
this is ripped.
conservative figure,
caught a bullet to the neck,
assassination in Utah.
the whole world,
watched close up videos,
of the blood,
gushing out of his jugular,
painting the floor,
blood red,
with a tone,
of civil chaos.
two days passed.
the screams through screens,
are loud.
civil war!
civil war!
civil war!
is what they shout,
while they sit,
curled up,
on their couches,
in fuzzy socks,
and the thermostat,
at sixty-six,
and Chipotle delivered,
by Uber Eats,
because,
they don’t own cooking supplies,
and rush hour,
gives them anxiety.
he,
he was a jagoff,
and the jagoff’s kids,
shouldn’t be,
without their father,
both things are true.
fella shouldn’t be dead!
thank god (that doesn’t exist) he’s dead!
so loudly,
do the screams,
ringing from screens,
seem to be.
i drove home,
late at night,
and saw a man in a wheelchair,
short a leg,
skint,
holding a Styrofoam cup,
with change,
jangling inside,
i didn’t have anything for him,
but thoughts on paper,
and a question,
never asked,
what do you think about all this?
rolled by the neighborhood bangers,
right there,
on Ralph David Abernathy Blvd,
and,
Lee St.,
in the West End,
if i rolled the window down,
and asked them,
what they thought,
about the man,
who caught the bullet,
at least one of them,
would shout back,
who that nigga?
that’s not ignorance,
that’s experience.
at the Asian market,
in Doraville,
HEB,
i see the seafood market employees,
organizing king crab legs,
shrimp,
and oysters,
talking about the fish,
in the tanks,
they’ve got the news on,
news,
from their country,
talking about,
what’s going on,
where it matters,
back home.
at The Home Depot,
on Research Center Drive,
the guys,
still line up,
in the shade,
on the brick wall,
they rest in the cool,
despite ICE’s danger,
hoping,
that someone,
might ask,
for them to hop in,
for a few hundred bucks,
for cheap labor.
back home,
here,
the bills stack up,
and i ponder,
if civil war begins,
think they’ll pause,
the internet bill?
we’d need it,
to keep up the fight.
i lament,
i’ve got bigger issues,
than the country,
going to hell.
hell,
i never knew the guy,
sure is sad,
his kids are short a dad,
and his wife is short a husband,
like that guy,
was short a leg.
i,
don’t think,
i’ll lose a wink of sleep,
to his death,
i think,
i’m losing sleep,
to much more than that.
i scream to the man,
in the wheelchair,
short a leg,
a man,
was shot,
walk on!
and it means just as much to him,
as my telling him,
sorry man,
don’t have any change,
none,
none at all.
if political violence,
has no place in this country,
someone should tell Nikki Haley,
to stop signing bombs,
bound for Gaza.
-TCB
