It's just poetry, it won't bite

Pixels


07.04.18 Posted in today's words by

Patricia Asuncion’s most recent poem to appear here was “Writing on the Wall” (June 2018)

Pixels
By Patricia Asuncion

Kennedy’s bullet ricocheted through us all,
forced my factory line to a dead halt. All eyes froze
on the one TV as it replayed the death footage,
enough times I still recite events, blow by blow.

The nation focused on his young son saluting,
but I feel the personal loss. The ‘66 Puerto Rican
riots in Chicago were more about my neighbors, a United
Nations of poverty, getting beat by cops.

I watched the ‘68 murder of Martin Luther King
from the safety of my tenement, but LA’s race riots
knocked at my door 1,800 miles away
with Mayor Daly’s cops in full force
ensuring crowds of three dispersed
like kill shots in billiards. Dead for days,
public buses crippled me, an innocent
bystander, going to work.

That same year, Bobby Kennedy’s murder in June,
then August police riots over Nam
heightened the Windy City’s police brutality,
but my summer wedding blissed
over the televised Chi-Town war zone.
I made my own white linen dress and decorated
our apartment with six locks and bolted windows,
for the reception to prettify
my impoverished world.

I learned to switch channels in my head
from horror headlines to colorized movies
where I’d dance my worries away. Today I ponder
hot weather near the Blue Ridge
as the Middle East war broils. I pick
a friend’s get-well card while
yellow fever rages in Nigeria. I plan
a visit to New England grandchildren when Trump
threatens a wall against immigrant families.
Managing my own picture elements on the big screen
helps me cope, reminds me I have choices.



3 Responses to “Pixels”

  1. rich. vibrant. insightful..
    Thank you for shedding light on the feeling.

  2. Pie Man says:

    Very thoughtful poem.

    Freedom is not free and we are under no obligation to let illegal people (good or bad) into the country when so many immigrants came here legally and helped make America the greatest nation on earth. Trump should not be blamed for the malfunctions of previous administrations (both parties) who molded the policies and also many previous senators and congress people who stated our borders needed protection and stop illegal traffic before he ever took office. Why has this thinking turned 180 Degrees?

  3. Sandy Natterer says:

    This poem touched me and it felt good to have a companion to join me on my ever recurring walk through painful memories.

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