Dec 2016

Falling in New America

by Lee Slater

I’m standing on a line
in new America’s poem
balancing on one foot

I can’t read it from up here
and I’m afraid to fall
into words already known
unbound echoes of hate

They shout at me in chants
To hold STILL, or is it to
Hold my breath?
Don’t speak.

But as I fall,
Tumble through the letters,
My fingers frantically
Catch and grab hold
Of the official line

And as I hang
I shake it as hard as I can
To see
What falls out.

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