by Danielle Alexich
guest contribution posted Nov. 6
I would give myself an A plus.
Nobody has done what I’ve been able to do.
–Donald Trump
Grade school mornings
we faced the flag,
hands over hearts,
pride of a nation pulsing inside us.
We compared report cards,
took cuts in line at recess,
played dodgeball in the thin Oakland fog.
Across town and on TV,
dark people got dragged away in handcuffs.
If we saw a drunk collapsed on the street,
we were told not to stare.
People dreamed of getting rich.
Years later, we heard about other countries.
Epidemics, famine, hospitals bombed.
Our kids pleaded for Happy Meals
while foreign children covered with flies
slumped in the dirt.
Thank God we lived in America.
Now, upset by massacres
where we learn, dance, shop and pray,
we face our flat screens,
flip through channels,
and recall a man with jutted chin
shouting to the cheering crowd.
I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue
and shoot somebody
and I wouldn’t lose voters.
Flags wave in the hot wind.
Our doors are locked.
Junkies crouch on streets
like a row of dark question marks.
One nation,
indivisible.
Danielle Alexich is a retired educator who loves family, dogs, culture and the outdoors. She hopes the experiences she shares in her writing speak to others.
like a row of dark question marks.
One nation,
indivisible.
So powerful.
Thank you!
I love this piece. It grabs at your soul. I relate to the passage of time, the simple images that tell such a beautiful tale of innocence and perhaps the loss of innocence.
Thank you Danielle. Yes ~US American childhoods infused with patriotic pride, lived experience exposing holes to reveal a nation birthed on injustice. Now to recharge a network of healing & resistance. Find each other in the storm that is now.
This touched me deeply. Thank you, Danielle.
I almost didn’t even read this piece. I just saw the photo in your text to me and I thought to myself, “yeah, this is the beginning of the end…”
I tried to prep my children, one old enough to vote, the other not quite old enough to, that there may be enough people in our country for dRump to win. They didn’t even want to imagine such a place. This is what we have come to, sadly.
Thank you for writing this Deanna. So so powerful.
My amazing poet sister, Danielle wrote the poem. I’m just sharing her words.
This hit me hard … what a true and lyrical take on America and its Rue Morgue level masks. I too did all these things in childhood, and believed in a good USA. Then the assassinations rained down like dark confetti. Danielle Alexich you are an exquisite poet, a truth teller. Please keep them coming .
Powerful. Beautiful. True.
Dear Danielle,
Thank you for sharing your gift. Your powerful words deeply touch my heart and soul. Dark times seem to have a way of triggering the bright creative light. ❤️