Fear Poem by David Michael Jackson

We blacklisted those who
made us fear ourselves

It was us, not them.

We were there

We were there
John Brown.

We were there.

We were there in Berlin.

It’s is not they
it is we.

We stood by
millions were burned.
We were fearful.

We stood by while
the talk infested our
neighbors,

the talk of fear

for communism
for drugs
for 19 guys with box cutters
for Mexicans.

We climbed out of the sewer of our
collective fear
into the sunshine of truth
once, a long time ago
in a place called Congress
and we told a man called McCarthy
where to stick his fear
and if we have to
by God
we’ll do it again.

david michael jackson june 28 2012 editors@artvilla.com send peace