i am, become... <br />i am the lonesome wail <br />of streets gone empty, <br />of factories deserted, <br />of shops closed down. <br />i am the abortion clinic bombed <br />by the right wing fanatic, <br />and the baby left with a baby <br />that she cannot raise. <br /> <br />i am the food pantry, <br />the mission, the soup line... <br />my faces used to be your neighbors. <br />i am the tractor rusted in the snow, <br />the well gone dry... <br /> <br />i am the young gay couple <br />wanting so much to marry, <br />i am the fundamentalist afraid <br />of anything i dont understand. <br /> <br />i am the heroin addict <br />on the endless stoop, <br />i am the black child growing up <br />in a neighborhood terrorized. <br /> <br />i am the immigrant looking for work, <br />i am the crops left rotting in the fields... <br />i am the bedpan changer, the floor sweeper, <br />and the emergency room nurse... <br /> <br />i am the single mom, <br />food stamps, and no work... <br />the young man who drives <br />the old woman out to vote. <br /> <br />i am the balled up fist, <br />the set lip, the phallic rose... <br />i am America exploding! <br />i am, become...<br /><br />Eric Cockrell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-continued/
