Michaela Renee Solomon Poet Bio

Systemic Strain, Not Personal Fault Part 3

Systemic Strain, Not Personal Fault 

They say "pull yourself up",

But the set of steps they hand you got rungs

Missin, bolts loose,

And a warning  label that indicates:

Good Luck.

You out here dodgin' glitches, cutoff.

Caseworkers who forget your name

Bur remember your target dates.

You fight battles they swear are "Personal 

Choices ".

In the process  the whole damage system 

Been leanin' crooked since before you were

Born.

And still- They  point at you like you're 

The Crack in the pedestrian way not

The aftershocks they triggered. 

But Nah you're the one who learned

How to walk broken streets without 

Losin' your pace.

You're the one who maintains truth

Like a blade tucked taintless under the

Tongue.  So you spit it raw:

This constriction ain't mine this fault

Ain't mine.

This weight was innovate by hands

That never had to lift it.

I'm not the blemish,  I'm the witness.

I'm not the burden-

I'm the blueprint of persistence. 

I'm  the voice they can't repose

With paperwork and excuses. 

I'm  the specifically of every person 

Whoever got blamed  for a system that

Failed them first. And I say it blaring 

Loud  enough  for the block, the courthouse, 

The whole damned state to hear

I'm  not broken. 

I'm piloting what was built shattered. 

I'm navigating what was built and that 

Truth, That's power

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