by Ernie McCray
Mass deportation
is uppermost
in a mad man’s plan
on his first day back
to being president again
and my eyes dampen
as vivid recollections
flood my mind,
memories of an earlier time
in my lifetime.
1944.|
I was six years old.
Standing in a park
near my house,|
listening to fiery
“Get-Those-Japs-Because-They’re- the-Enemy” speeches
by angry White men,
while other agitated people,
men and women
and children,
waved posters
of “Japs” with exaggerated buck teeth
and slanted eyes,
looking as though they really were animalistic
as the speakers had described,
with marching-band music
blasting to the skies,
and these images
dominated my dreams
and it took me a while
to accept
the offspring of Japan
as what they are:
humans.
And here we are committing
the same sin again,
much to my annoyance,
in 2024
when I’ve reached the age of 86
and my soul drenches in
deep emotional pain
knowing that now,
as I’m stuck
in a flood of déjà vu,
my grandchildren
and great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild
are experiencing what I went through,
seeing their fellow human beings,
this time immigrants,
seeking a more hopeful life,
being demonized,
being referred to as
animals, stone-cold killers,
the worst people,
the enemy within,
folks who will eat their neighbors’
cats and dogs
and such,
examples of
racism running amok,
let loose by a president
who has peculiarities similar to those
possessed by a cartoon character like Daffy Duck,
greedy, self-centered, egotistical
and out of control,
bent on dragging a once promising democracy
through the muck,
eager for the buck
to stop with him,
ever so much.
That a man
has brought this to my progeny
burns my soul.
But now I really know for certain
that the work of building a better world
is an effort
that never grows old.
To endure this
and someday get back on track again
in behalf of our children,
“We the People”
will have to stay on our toes.
RIGHT ON!