Best Poems Written by Claire Cheng

Dear Faithful Neighbor

Breaking news 
the land of the free is now broken 
Our Divided States of America
is turning third-world 
Who let the government 
place their destructive hands 
over my fragile uterus 
The ones who preach
Love thy neighbor as thyself
They celebrate in the House of God
whilst the ones next door enter 
Living Hell

Jesus Christ loves his little children
But does he also love his little black women
struggling to make ends meet 
working three jobs to save up for stability
and a runaway from her daily beatings
from a man turned into a monster 
who says “We’re pregnant”
instead of “She’s pregnant”
Because he knows exactly what it’s like 
to carry a growing life inside 
heavy with the burdens of responsibility
She’s not ready to nurture a life
Instead she’s tethered to his gaslighting  
because she’s “nothing without him”
“I’m so sorry” she says to her newborn son 
forced into the brokenness of our world

Mr. Pastor preaches the unborn deserve lives 
yet fails to preach of those already born
The gays the disabled the oppressed 
they scream into their pain of unacceptance
The children who never return home from school 
due to the cost of a bullet 
The black men on death row 
for a crime they would never commit
The Chinese grandmother beaten to death 
while picking fruit at her local grocery store 
Because the ones who preach 
love thy neighbor as thyself
simple choose who their neighbors are

They say love is patient 
and love is kind
But Good Lord 
Can love extend beyond our beliefs 
Can it be of open mindedness and empathy
Because to be a loving neighbor 
is to be one who truly loves all

Copyright © Claire Cheng | Year Posted 2023