I Am (Continued)

i am, become... i am the lonesome wail of streets gone empty, of factories deserted, of shops closed down. i am the abortion clinic bombed by the right wing fanatic, and the baby left with a baby that she cannot raise. i am the food pantry, the mission, the soup line... my faces used to be your neighbors. i am the tractor rusted in the snow, the well gone dry... i am the young gay couple wanting so much to marry, i am the fundamentalist afraid of anything i dont understand. i am the heroin addict on the endless stoop, i am the black child growing up in a neighborhood terrorized. i am the immigrant looking for work, i am the crops left rotting in the fields... i am the bedpan changer, the floor sweeper, and the emergency room nurse... i am the single mom, food stamps, and no work... the young man who drives the old woman out to vote. i am the balled up fist, the set lip, the phallic rose... i am America exploding! i am, become...