POETRY:  I read ...

Fatima Rhodes

Posted Jul 29, 2014      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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POETRY:  I read ...

by Fatima Rhodes


I read ...

I read about the homeless in our streets
I read about the refugee children at our borders
I read about our failing schools
I read about our struggling economy
I read about the fight for a living wage
I read about the violence in our cities
And the lack of opportunities for young people
I read there is no money for healthcare
And no money either for early childhood education
I read about corporations and for profit public schools
And for profit jails too with no money for rehabilitation
I read about the rising numbers of poor families
And how the poorest children in the developed world
Live right here in America, the greatest country on earth

And then I read this: “Congress will discuss a $225 million
request from the Defense Department to urgently
bolster Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.”

That’s $225 million in addition to 3.15 billion per year from 2013–2018
Billions each year to one of the world’s most economically developed nations,
To a country that “is consistently rated very low in the Global Peace Index,
ranking 145th out of 153 nations for peacefulness in 2011”
And “One of the world’s largest arms exporters,
reaching the world’s 4th largest arms-exporter in 2007.”

And then I read some more about the homeless in our streets
I read about the refugee children at our borders
I read about our failing schools
I read about our struggling economy
I read about the fight for a living wage
I read about the violence in our cities
And the lack of opportunities for young people
I read there is no money for healthcare
And no money either for early childhood education
I read about corporations and for profit public schools
And for profit jails too with no money for rehabilitation
I read about the rising numbers of poor families
And how the poorest children in the developed world
Live right here in America, the greatest country on earth

 

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