home sweet home

they buried him

in american flag

full of hubris and genocide

and in the same wrapping

gentrification carried his mother

from his body

uprooted heart-strings

severed with zone markers

and organic food stores

stolen breath and lyricism

fantasized for white mouths

with rustic cravings

jump, jump

one time to dodge the bullet

another for the zone markers

moving target, where you go?

you ain’t nobody/nobody/nothing

but sick air and black skin

no spiritual, no love,

no time for no justice/no peace

only $1,000 and deadlines.

• c.p.