Made In America
Subways swim underground
like whales swallowing dreams.
I sit blended into its whirring cavity
A hostage inside this vehicle transporting prisoners.
I see my face clinched in the window’s reflection
Shifting with blank gazes into stark musings
as the whine of electrical motors wail
like the Sirens from Homer’s Odyssey calling out,
seducing shipwrecked promises of my tomorrow.
Anger becomes sorrow that strangles my belly into fits.
Rocking in this womb like a transient clock
the tickety-tickety-tickety of the tracks
count the moments,
hours, days, years swiftly stolen-
by those who inhale the air I cannot breathe.
I am suffocating!
To keep from drowning
I clutch the rosary around my neck.
Kindred voyageurs reaching for hope surround my crucifix
palms up-with the penance of heartless ambiguity.
Such cruelty these smiles hide, disguising their comfort
from a sadness where justice might free me
to pacify their souls in the name of their God
A melting pot – a stew of skins-congregate in colors,
waiting with bones boiling in this racist broth that ache with loathing,
on the train of hungry whales that stalls tired and derailed.
I have sacrificed family, friends, and homeland to touch the soil
of this land of promise. But there is little harvest here.
This shallow ground fatigues my fate and sucks it dry
yielding barren fruits of truth
as empty as the desert from which I fled.
Stranded once more on this oasis of lies
this nomad searching for a more perfect life
Made in America.
August 8, 2021
A Brian Strand your pick Poetry Contest
Artist Credit: This poem was written for the image "Fata Morgana" by Swoon
The definition of Fata Morgana is: a mirage of multiple images that are distorted and magnified to resemble elaborate castles.
Copyright © Lonna Blodgett | Year Posted 2021
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