Poetry

I’m Not Good, I’m American

Prompt from Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) at The Brain is a Noodle

I’m not a good person, I’m an American. I ate cashews with glee until the soft crunching tasted like little brown fingers salted. I don’t eat them now. my clothes are blood. my sKIN/care is blood my furniture is Poison, dipped in Blood. I’m no good. I look at white men and see potential mass shooters likely serial killers the carmine banality of old or young killers i can’t afford the Benefit of Doubt, today. I look at white women womxn womyns and see a noose (we have always been) the Better killers. I look in the mirror mortem obscura meets iris abtruse. Who wants to be g(o)od, Anyway?

Ajah Hales is a writer, race educator, and social thinker from East Cleveland, Ohio. When her mother asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, Ajah replied: “A dictator.” These days Ajah is more interested in changing the world than taking it over. You can find Ajah on Twitter @AjahsWrite, you can hire her through ajahhales.com.

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Want to read the poetry Ajah reads? Start with this one by Maya L, M.A.