"School shooting," "Skag," and "Attica at 50"

School shooting

The wind blows feathers
from the open windows
of the elementary school
near my home  
 
What is blue
and why do
delicate things
have wings
 
But no armor-

Skag

American arms
scarred by the skag
of public opinion
are too tired to beat
swords into ploughshares

Attica at 50

How often do grave injustices make for great documentaries
can we all take a moment to express our disgust that 33 prisoners
and 7 cops were executed by the State of New York with endorsements
from Albany and the White House of course if you don’t know your state
capitals Albany doesn’t mean anything to you
 
George Jackson Soledad Brother Mumia Abu Jamal did you ever
read them when you took a course on Black Power or Prison Lit or
tuned in and listened to some underground Hip Hop they don’t speak
of prison communists in country and western music though prison
is often the song topic you read Eldridge Cleaver because Cleaver became
a Republican and he showed that the revolution is like marijuana smoke in
America it smells and it can get you high but it evaporates and over time turns
your lungs black
 
Attica do you know that name is Greek upstate New York is a funny place
like most of America it’s named for locations most Americans will never see
Attica overseas is the birthplace of democracy in America Attica is a little town
instead of being named for Frederick Douglas or Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
or Douglas Fairbanks or Burgess and James Meredith it is named for the Greeks
which one of these is not like the other can you guess it’s the white woman Stoneman
who made it past 100
 
Attica is 50.