Fear of the Other

"Sometimes it seems like to tell the truth

today is to run the risk of being killed.

But if I fall, I'll fall five feet four inches

forward in the fight for freedom."

--Fannie Lou Hamer

fear of the other

is not new,

it is infused

in and through the body

politic.

ICE agents execute raids in Cali strawberry fields

while most Americans

just eat their fruits and vegetables

with no thought for the faceless ones

who do the picking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

would be King 47

never shops for groceries--

kindred Afrikaner Elon financed

smug Trumpian arrogance

into same old American

sickness.

who will the MAGA cult

scape goat next

when

they see

skyrocketing prices

or empty store shelves?

the "silent majority"

about to learn

what people

consigned to the margins

have always

known:

America is what

America has always been. .