like a mural of Malcolm
that never gets tagged
Or, hasn’t yet
For a tearing down is
far more the norm for us
than a building up
Ironically
Malcolm X was a master at verbally tearing down
the paper tiger of
American Exceptionalism
Called it by its proper name
“Vulture Capitalism”
A system
that feeds off of
the blood and misery of others
So, wave that flag if you must
but there is nothing sacred
in the genesis of
American genocide
But hey, we all fall short
far short
of any untarnished perfection
Some come close early in life
to rising to such a bar
only to fall heavy in passing
And some — like Malcolm X
they rise from the depths of such a system
then boldly give birth to something sacred — in passing.