Home to Roost
by Arya F. Jenkins / February 24th, 2019
I take a walk
The pavement is uneven
The streets ugly
The houses worn
Tired as their inhabitants
Poor as a third world country
But this is where I live
At least there are no bombs falling
Yet
And no one has been shot today
Do you see how the calamities infringed by this power
Are coming home now?
Do you see how the militant kindness we
Inflicted for decades–
Imposed religions
Inappropriate democracies
Chokeholds on the sacred
Have come back toxic into our belly?
Now the violence points inward and
Our privileged rage runs rampant
And like our cries goes
Unheeded
How can the rest of the world care as
It is still hurting
Still picking up the pieces of our hubris
The tattered emblems of this empire.
Arya F. Jenkins is a Colombian-American poet, writer and peace and social justice activist whose poems have appeared in numerous journals and zines such as Agave Magazine, Blue Heron Review, Cider Press Review, Dying Dahlia Review, Dissident Voice, The Ekphrastic Review and more. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She has also published poetry reviews in Cleaver Magazine, Cider Press Review, Rhino Poetry, The Poetry Cafe and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Poetry is forthcoming in Luna Luna Magazine. She is the author of three poetry chapbooks and a short story collection, Blue Songs in an Open Key (Fomite Press, 2018). Her novel, Punk Disco Bohemian, and a collection of short stories, Angel in Paris & Other Stories, are due for release through NineStar Press in 2021.
Read other articles by Arya F., or
visit Arya F.'s website.
This article was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2019 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.
