“Money for the poor, not war.” – Tupac
my great grandmother was the lovechild ofunlikely odds
and favorable gods,
born in the midst
of bombs and bullets, this daughter
was not supposed
to survive such a torn and brutal beginning,
yet war and violence were not woven
into her flesh or dna
you see
all my life
i’ve been told that
war is a part of humanity, that it is natural, inevitable,
yet i have been fed unnatural to
reason with the proclaimed “natural”
i’ve been fed
glorified tales of war, stories of camo
dressed heroes
and brothers of
liberty and independence
while
camo retired veterans and brothers born of war are not fed at all.
in history class
i was taught that war is necessary to grow
a nation,
but how do you
teach that to
a mother
whose son will never be able to grow at all?
in books and movies i have watched as they burnt bridges and destroyed and killed enemies
for love.
but if love is supposed to be fought for like a war, then i don’t want to love.
because to love is to create, not take.
all wars do is take, take families
take children
take homes
take flesh
take blood
take generations take future doctors future poets
future engineers
america all you do is take, take brothers
Make soldiers
take sisters
make martyrs take lovers make bones take dollars make drones
america when will you create life without bloodshed? create families
create children
create homes
create flesh
create blood
create generations create future doctors future poets
future engineers
america i know you can be beautiful, your spring has been kind to me before, i’ve been wooed by your
poppies and roses that have been plucked from colorful gardens.
but i cannot admire a garden
planted with bloodied soil.
america i know you can be beautiful, i have danced to your
ballads and serenades before.
but i won’t dance to
your war drum if
its beat is lifeless
i won’t dance to your drum unless
it starts taking lives less
america, i know you can be beautiful, so please be beautiful today.
Michelle Vong is 2023 Oakland Youth Poet Vice Laureate