Art and poetry on page and stage
12
Bob Holman
From "The Poems Love Art Love Poems" series
I Got You ! (&) I Got You!
Awake & listen! Now hear this!
I was born in Texas, grew up in Kentucky,
High school in Hawaii, never graduated
In Utah, moved to New York, never left
In California, my children’s names are Dakota
(For real) North, South, Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama,
Alaska. I was trained to kill by the Poets, & ordered
To steal people’s languages & last names till I became
Citizen4. They call me Garner Brown & it’s not Global
Warming that makes me say #ICan’tBreathe
It’s the way the fourteenth line
Of the sonnet closes in, death
By one’s own hand. To State the Union
Is to make the Poem that Heals.
.