I CRITICIZED THE PRESIDENT

NOW CNN SAYS I AM A SOCIALIST

“b*#$%  i might be” – Gucci Mane

NY Times says if you don’t vote blue you are both Russian and

plotting to enlist in the Axis of Resistance from your 9-5 cubicle 

i understand this accusation is meant to make us defensive

meant to tie exploited workers up in proving non-affiliation

while mass murder quenches the insatiable thirst of corporations

raytheon crosses their fingers about a new red scare

Marcus Garvey’s fbi file was just a warm up

don’t believe the lie that they believe their lies

this is not an insult to our ability to think for ourselves

the ruling class knows just how dangerous we are

that’s why propaganda don’t sleep and the press don’t think

power means you define the terrain of the battle

guerillas know the art of malleable landscapes

what is treason to a gov’t that betrays its founding documents

u.s. civilian memory is the safest place for the empire’s crimes

yesterday i wrote a poem comparing politicians to puppets

this morning Fox News said communism stole my lunch money

hollywood pushes out spy movies like clockwork so we might

be receptive to the idea we are actually all traitors in training

secretary of education needs an enemy so we don’t speak of literacy

without an international emergency we might address houselessness

or ask silly questions about the pentagon’s consecutive failed audits

or demand our tax dollars do something magical like improve our lives

or look across an ocean to ask why u.s. troops are within striking range

this poem will self-destruct approximately 30 seconds after the election

ball the paper up and toss it toward the nearest dumpster fire pig station

if you are caught reciting this contraband tell ‘em it’s just art for art’s sake


More from this Writer

Darius Simpson is a writer, educator, performer, and skilled living room dancer from Akron, Ohio. His work has appeared in New Ohio Review, The Adroit Journal, Crab Creek Review, and others. Darius believes in the dissolution of empire and the total liberation of all Afrikans by any means available.