snow falls off the cars to dance a brief ballet on the grey concrete
Copyright Arjuna Greist 2003
before crushing to water under the tires of the next car in line
seething with the traffic on christopher columbus highway
all the bumps seem to me bodies bulldozed underneath
now there’s tragedy on the radio, a story breaking like hearts or like bones
how can we fix this, we already know it was built wrong from the start
i’m remembering a girl with band-aids on both knees
surrounded by soldiers, marching obediently in 4/4 time
she’s spinning in circles, bad little soldier
humming her own tune, disrupting the line
this isn’t what the factory owners had in mind when they founded the schools
they wanted the upcoming workforce well-versed
in reading instructions and following rules
in history it’s names & dates from patriotic wars
she learns her heros should be men who killed for more & more & more
& lessons from the dancer on the poster on the wall
pink satin shoes hide bloody scabs, she never falls from grace
she learns the most from games in gym, gotta run fast and always win
careful who you let on your team- the fittest survive,
that’s how it’s always been
questions quivering strapped down in multiple choice
she’s a voice muffled, trapped like an insect in amber
mouth stuffed full of sugary yellow crude rubber they tell her is gold
black and blue and red all over
out in the schoolyard she learns she is odd
then she grows older and hears on the news
how some kids tried to crawl out through a bullet hole
oh, there but for the grace of god
so i just keep driving, listening to talking heads talk, and talk,
but they never say
that til we stop teaching that hate is ok
the sticks and the stones won’t just go away
the ship has been sinking for thousands of years
still the band keeps on playing, invading our ears
with the same tired tempo, the same keeping time
it’s time to bring in a different drummer
laying down counter-point and odd numbers
a rhythm for kissing and dancing the blood off our hands
to the tune of amerika changing its lesson plan