untitled
(a poem-in-progress)

tears fall from my eyes like rain
tears heavy with the texture of pain
and my soul cries….

they chant, “remember New Orleans!”
to a people who can never forget
living on rooftops for days
that much closer to heaven, while hell climbed higher
the world watching them die a slow death
in the belly of one of the richest countries in the world
their pain magnified and pulsating in high-definition

tears fall from my eyes like rain
tears heavy with the texture of pain
and my soul cries…

america the beautiful, has become an aged-beauty queen
fighting to hold on to a crown that no longer fits her head
her children dying senselessly, drowning in mother nature’s tears
survivors called refugees, looters, trash, expendable
while the storm raged, and walls broke
children cried. people died.
the world watched as america’s dress flew up - again
exposing tattered underwear, soiled by the dirt she tries to hide
two years later…a watery anniversary
new orleans remains a bloated corpse
its children treated like sally hemmings’ disenfranchised offspring of sally hemmings
seeking nothing more than their birthright

tears fall from my eyes like rain
tears heavy with the texture of pain
and my soul cries…

© Jackie Young ~ 2007