It’s been called the United States of America for a good long while. But let’s be honest, we’ve always ALWAYS been this divided. From the moment the first colonizers arrived, with their killing, looting, stealing and genociding. How do we get to unity when it’s never been on our map?

This is (Not) My America

look at the whole of the map

mandered or rigged,
 it matters little what these jerrys did
   the carving clinical for all those turkeys
   in the red cages & blue cages
  occasionally threatened
 by purple rages

look at the whole of the map

the flyover states, the beer gut of America
  the bloated persuasion that
   it is the true America
   the (lock)landed heart of America
  tornado-torn & fond of porn
 harvested & re-planted fields of self-absorption

the coastal elites with their fancy pants & skinny jeans
   neither in my size
  with their net worths & networks
   their leagues ivy not intramural
   their societies secret only after fully paid admission
  (but completely free of admissions of guilt)

the Rust belt, with belts & boot straps
  so rusted, so stripped of value
   it’s impossible to pull up (except stakes)
  only able to pull out

the desert Southwest
  deserted of compassion
   borders patrolled by trolls cold as ICE
   unchanged, even the summer sun not quite hot enough
  even with climate change boost juice

the dark tundra of Alaska
   open & empty
   voting machines & voting machinations
    in plain sight
   for the Russians who can see their
  White House

in the NW corner, Pacific looming
  vineyard booming, rugged progressive grooming
   sleepless rainy Emerald City, Portland fame
    ancient golden city in a golden state
   gold showers over its
  gold mines & moving picture show gold mine

over snowy Rock-capped mountains, past geyser gusting
  more hot gas & hot water than guys will be guys politicians
   over lands reserved for the only ones that didn’t 
  immigrate or assassinate or dominate

the big red state with its big pink rock
 capital; campaigns against science & history
   front line in the war on women.
 it’s almost as if the other 49 were forgotten
or the outshined sun hurricane state, the tail or the prick of America
 ass wagging between gulf and sea

let’s look up

the south, with its blown-up churches & blown up
 cinemas & blown up night clubs
   bright white terrors glowing
  in these dark days America
 winter trees not hanging leaves

up up up the coast from outer banks to 
 Wall St banks
past the swamp capital of America
  stench stretching from sea to shining sea
bounce through the original colonies
  the witches burn better on wood stakes
   bonfire lines
  the genocide starting line
 the white supremacy dancing country western line

and then finally to the harbor
 where you must imagine the shadow of two towers
 it is Lady Liberty, her torch now a flashlight
 barely enlightening the world from the great
 Porte of the World
 behind her the contiguous states of America
 doused in darkness, covered in a patchwork quilt
 
and no e pluribus unum to kick off the covers

©David Siller – 2021

*****

For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021.

Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !

In 21st Century America, we have a capitalism problem, which poet Daniel Olsson takes to task. How long will we value profits over people? How much, or how little, is a life worth?

Land of the Dollar

In my country,
The land of all knowing,
It costs a dollar to be human…
Those of elder wisdom claim they remember the day when a heart cost only a nickel,
Not an outrageous dollar…
A dollar must be paid to break the leg,
To shatter the bone and make the memory of pain nightmarish for moments on,
The poor cannot afford weak bones…
A dollar must be given to pass go,
The get out of jail free cards expired with the loss of the radio and the death of activist circles,
Those of the downtown neighborhood laugh at the idea of free cards,
Being an animal is always free,
Being human is what costs money…
You must donate a dollar to speak freely,
The illusion of your voice was the only free thing the schools will give you,
The bill-board tramples the alto,
A TV can rob their ears and give only eyes to see your skin-tone,
And the internet forges the bubble of dollar-filled admission tickets…
Please surrender the dollar for your vote,
Who are you to tell us how the world should turn?
No claim to fame, no parents of willing might,
Only a one-bedroom apartment and a bus ride to work,
Stay home and let the rightful pick the process of our future…
In my country,
the land of the free,
A dollar must be stolen to salvage today,
To breathe was never a right of life,
But a right of passage if you earned your dollar…

©Daniel Olsson – 2021

*****

Daniel Olsson is a poet from Bloomington, Indiana who has been writing poetry for the past eight years. Daniel’s writing revolves around contemporary society, including the topics of economic inequality, environmental justice, social issues and international relations. He can be found on Instagram and Tumblr as @apoeticcookie

*****

For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021.

Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !