I know the names of American shame,
Names found hidden away
not taught:
(North)
Jamestown
Mystic Fort
New Amsterdam
Salem
(South)
Nicuragua
Port-au-Prince
Guantanamo
(East)
IraqAfganistanPakistanIranPalestine
North/South Korea
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Burma
HiroshimaNagasaki
(West)
Wounded Knee
Fairview
Manzanar
Trail of Tears
Our American Auschwitz
our Star-Spangled Bastille.
But I won’t forget-
let it slip away.
I found the formula for American Fear:
IF
+KKK (racism, gender inequality,
+SanBernadinoLasVegasPulse terrorism, authoritarianism
+Viet-raq war, imperialism, war, ethnocentrism, war
+ Black Panthers hatred of (Jews, Muslims, non-Christians)
+ColumbineViginiaTechSandyHook
+9/11
+Furguson
+Manning /McCARTHY
+sexual assault /ABU GHRAIB
+cheated elections /PATRIOT ACT
THEREFORE
=Oppression
=Regression
=Segregation
=Misinformation
I know the words to the American Myth.
Memorized, impressed, repeated in my mind:
I had a dream
that one day
Tom Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and
an uninquisitive CisHetWhiteMale,
honestly, and with the best of intentions-
chopped down our Founding Father’s cherry tree (they were entitled to it
in a Manifest Destiny way-
in a sexually euphemistic way)
while a nameless faceless background woman sewed the FIRST AMERICAN flag
(she was white or she wouldn’t even get a mention in the story)
at the FIRST thanksgiving dinner
where Pocahontas married John Smith
(so grateful for his rape of her)
thus defeating Britain’s tyranny forever (replacing it with fresh new tyranny)
Abe Lincoln then FREED
All the slaves that never were
And the North and the South and the West
Saved all the Indians
From themselves
And hid them away where no one could find them
especially eachother
Even until today.
All MEN were equal
And GOD made everyone CHRISTIAN,
sent Darwin to hell,
and blessed Kennedy to take us all to the moon-
after AMERICA and GOD, SAVED THE UNIVERSE
from fascists (of course not nice fascists)
before AMERICA and GOD, SAVED THE UNIVERSE
from dirty pinko commies.
The world loved AMERICA
Forever, and ever
AMEN.
The end.
The end
The end.
It means the most when you say it three times.
I know how to say America Pride-
You say “constitution”. (like a magic spell, but not, because we don’t let witches in here)
It is is a document of law
determining the fundamental governing principles of a government
that should never be looked at
or followed.
It is strongly encouraged that one
Tear this up,
Grind it into the ground,
beneath boots licked by tounges of people working doublequick
to ignore everything
while those boots stop on necks of
people who look different
who are different inside
whose families are from somewhere else
or believe in something else after this exisitance
are poor
or uneducated
To understand constitution one must
Not think about it
But think one thinks about it.
[Double think.]
You say “freedom”
From consequences,
from reality,
from responsibility, acceptance, and enlightenment.
When you have that freedom,
what other freedoms could you need?
[ignorance is bliss]
You say “democracy”
You share democracy
You never think about democracy
Or acknowledge your participation or responsibility in society
or participate in anything meaningful
Only talk
Talktalktalk
About wonderful democracy
And never ever realize
You gave it all up
For a feeling instead of
actions
facts
reality.
But goddamn, does it feel good.
to see your billionaire beat some other billionaire on tv
If you’re aren’t the one getting stepped on
or to get stepped on slowly, not like those other people
almost sexy
if you tell yourself long enough that oppression is love
You say “equality”
Equal rights
Equal people
Equality for all.
Shut your eyes and ears
to the poor (their own fault)
the women, black people, Latinx
(lazy, stupid)
shut you eyes
against the stain they make
shut your ears against their noise
kick them [out]
shut them up
before they ruin your perfect
equality.
I know the faces of American Heros.
I learned them before, and I’ll tell you-
A hero is a tragedy
Says F. Scott Fitzgerald
Arthur Miller (and Willy Loman)
say the tragic hero is common.
I know them.
Of course there is
Nat Turner, John Brown, Rosa Parks, Sitting Bull, Marsha P. Johnson,
So many, many, countless more.
But there are also-
The round smiling face
Big brown eyes face
of the single mom
working three jobs to support her kids.
The hidden face and smiling eyes of
the femme at the desk
with self respect and personal autonomy
she wears the hijab everyday.
I know these faces.
These hero faces.
I am well acquainted with American Beauty
Two hundred thousand dollar ruby slippers for a night
(give me barefeet in the rain)
Penthouse view
(sunset over Haystack rock. Over the Sandias.)
Lippo. Rhinoplasty. Collegen.
(leaves in hair, snowflakes in eyelashes, butterflies)
Hot or not lists, diet fad, juice cleanses, eating disorders
(healthy, healing, enjoying, appreciating)
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest, who’s the smartest, who’s the most correct of us all?”
TV replies
“Not you,
Hideous, stupid.
You’ll never be good enough.
But never stop trying.
Buying. Stop thinking, stop worrying,
What else am I here for
But to think for you?”
That’s what we do,
They buy what they’re told
CONSUME.”
cry and believe the lie
keep asking and buying
and crying.
I smash that TV up.
I’m beautiful.
I’ll tell you not to buy
not you tell me.
I don’t like apple pie, baseball, or hotdogs.
And that’s beautiful
Sometimes I’m vegetarian
And that’s beautiful
I’m always always always
Self confident intelligent and beautiful
I decide what goes for me
if you try to shove me down with a boot
I’ll smash you up
like a bad idea
someone
BEAUTIFUL
Who believes in being
being idealist
being beautiful.
Smashing the TV
And I won’t stop.
Storyteller Doll 