No one cares
if a black, kindly neighbor
goes to the neighborhood bodega
& ends up dead
No one cares
if a woman, clad in a tight miniskirt,
gets fondled, fingered or raped
without her consent;
she was probably asking for it—
No one cares
when Asians get harassed
or spat upon in the subway:
they’re the carriers of disease.
No one cares
if Native Americans lose
another acre of land
to big corporations fracking & pipelining
No one cares
about the illegals:
they should remain at the border,
penned up like animals
No one cares
about sexual deviants.
Why should they marry each other & raise kids?
Why should they want to change their gender?
& no one gives a damn
about the children:
when their parents die,
when injustice wins—
Wait a minute:
Everyone cares!
That’s why they’re marching,
Mr. President—
They do give a damn!
Not everyone’s apathetic;
that’s why
they’re taking it to the streets!
Not everyone
are looters or criminals
or rebel-rousers;
they don’t need to
wave their Bibles—
Enough is enough.
Even those staying at home
are with the protesters.
That’s why we chose
not to tune in to your speech
on television yesterday;
you want to change America
into a military task force state.
That is not our America.
We don’t care for that.
Black lives matter.
Women’s lives matter.
Asian lives matter.
Native American lives matter.
Latino & Hispanic lives matter.
LGBTQIA lives matter.
Children’s futures matter.
We all matter—
we’re still alive & kicking
& we don’t care
to be considered
as criminals
in America,
no more!