Are We Great Again Yet?

by Josh Medsker / April 28th, 2019

I’m walking down by the Kill
Van Kull, watching tugboats
pass Staten Island en route to
the Hudson River, lost in reverie

and it snaps me awake
my neck jerks up from my phone
and I blink.

This noose
thrown over the tree
by the dog park
the project houses
and the bodega pizzeria

My pace slows until I stand, dumbstruck.

Your words hung this here
this jarring reminder of fear
dredged up from

decades of grievances
unmanaged

and ignorance
willfully, now gleefully cultivated.

Josh Medsker is a New Jersey writer originally from Alaska. His work has appeared in many publications including: Dissident Voice, The Brooklyn Rail, and Contemporary American Voices. Read other articles by Josh, or visit Josh's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, April 28th, 2019 at 8:03am and is filed under Poetry.