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displaced memories (2 of 3)
sometimes i remember
being shipped like cargo
to a church whose only intention
was to change my entire belief system
to tell me i could only work six days a week
to feed my family
i had to work three jobs just to live
and send my children to work
before they could barely read
because the land of opportunity
didn’t live up to its name
sometimes i remember
seeing my son – dead
in the newspaper
because the national guard only protected
beverly hills
after a white judge, white jury and white lawyers
got four white cops acquitted for
bringing rodney king one blink within death
my whole life up in smoke
because someone placed
descending values on lives
and we were on the bottom
sometimes i remember
being harassed by the FBI
for being the wrong color
called a spy after being tried in the new york times
solitary confinement that broke
the spirit this country claimed to give me
sometimes i remember
being scapegoated for problems the city
refuses to touch
labeled a gangmember by the newspaper
labeled a terrorist by the mayor
only hear my name mentioned when
they want to get rid of me
but never when i needed help before
when i needed someone to care
