POEM OF THE DAY BY JOSEPH ANTHONY DAVIS

soft, boyish hands

soft, boyish hands manifest the monstrosity of murder,
posing with machetes and machines
while their minion serfs do the grunt work of slaughter and mayhem
in bloody, muddy “theaters”
soft, boyish hands of privilege and preverication,
flip the pages of the balance sheet,
sending thrills of approval to the mendacious mastermind,
just like women to be ravaged a la American Psycho,
soft, boyish hands on hips as eyes, beady with greed,
survey the land to be cleared of primitives, mud people or infidels.

soft, boyish hands never directly strangle, supple claws on necks,
never throw the lynching rope over that strange fruit tree:
no, moneyed and meticulously manicured, soft boyish hands
draft the redlining legislation, take away collective bargaining
with the smirking flourish of a fountain pen,
punctuate the air while spewing homicidal propaganda,
tap their drivers on the shoulder to direct them
to the safety of a mansion, a heavily fortified home,
or a cave.

soft, boyish hands write the code of Hammurabi
soft, boyish hands -- your will be done, Kemosabe!



-Joseph Anthony Davis