Gali

Life is like the marshmallow in the s’more

First you have to take one out of the bag

Then stab it on a stick

If you do it wrong

The marshmallow drops into eager flames

You can start over

No one died

right?

I wasn't affected

but I am affected.

I know them

their situation

we're good friends

but why is all of this happening in my lifetime?

In our lifetimes?

The little girl sat in her swing

blond curls the way they are before

you grow up the everywhere I don't care

it looks like my hair was woven from sunlight

a throne for a flower crown.

Give the lights a sickly yellow glow

Let me reflect 

The scribbled-on stall doors and brightly-colored posters

Framing her face, to remind her 

For every woman being raped.

For every trans made illegal.

For every Native forced out of their home.

For every black person called “lesser.”

I’m standing there, minding my own,
 Unarmed, no threat, just skin and bone.
 But he sees me, and I’m already guilty,
 Not for what I’ve done, but for how I look, for where I’ve been, for the color of my skin.