The fact that you even have to say
that Black Lives Matter
and the fact that you do–you do have to say it.
The fact that Putin and Trump
The fact that if you tell people
it’s about their freedom,
it’s about their jobs,
it’s about those Socialists
wanting to steal your hamburgers
The fact that Jesus on a plate
holding an AR-15 at the fireworks concession
The fact that Alex Jones
The fact that I’m so good at facing facts
they should name a recovery center after me
or a firing squad in Arkansas or North Korea
The fact that men in three-cornered hats told other men
that it was about THEIR freedom,
that it was about THEIR equality,
when it was really about (their, shh) not paying (their, shh) taxes
The fact that it doesn’t have to be same as the old boss
The fact that the Mystic Massacre
The fact that the Fort Pillow Massacre
The fact that age-defying cream
The fact that skin-lightening cream
The fact that you could go on all day like that
The fact that you learned the facts of life
but don’t even want to know the facts of death
The fact that if you are brown in America
someone else’s de jure
is your de facto
And the fact that that’s a fact
The fact that if you’re poor,
fact finding is easy because
there’s always a fact of the day
and if you’re not,
then you are an accessory
before, during, and after the fact
The fact that all markets look pretty free
if you’re rich and spending some poor person’s labor
The fact that everybody wants their Mama,
and no one wants to admit that,
is two facts
The fact that 27,375 days
The fact that Jimmy Carter said
he had sinned against Rosalynn in his mind,
which was so JC of him,
I could have kissed him on the peanut.
Copyright 2020, Robert D. Shepherd. All rights reserved. This poem may be freely distributed as long as it is distributed in its entirety and this notice is retained.
For more poetry by Bob Shepherd and more about reading and writing poems, go here: https://bobshepherdonline.wordpress.com/category/poetry/
Bob Shepherd | Praxis 