You’re Not A Racist, But

A crystal ball. Photo by FeeLoona on Pixabay.

I’m not saying you’re racist,
but the Venn diagram of
people who are racist
and people who move to my hometown
on purpose
is a goddamn circle.

I’m not saying you’re racist,
but when we drove through
the place you were moving from
and a bus cut us off,
your fiancé yelled
“[Racial slur]-ville! Jesus!”
and you laughed.

I’m not saying you’re racist,
but when your friend said
she couldn’t fuck non-white people —
insisting she wasn’t racist,
she just had “issues” —
you sat there silently
and nodded.

I’m not saying you’re racist,
but if I asked a fortune-telling toy
about this, it would say:
“All signs point to yes.”

And I’m not saying I’m a coward,
but I should have said
all of this
to your face.