the brown bag prophet
was busy writing
at a park bench
when i was
on my way home
when i inquired
as to
what he was writing
the prophet
said
i’m preparing
some questions
to replace
those removed
by
the college board
about
real
american history
regarding blacks
what do you
think about
this one
what does
the name
desantis
have in common
with the following words
racist
homophobic
fascist
apartheid
maybe this one
should also
be
included
how is
mussolini
to
hitler
as
desantis
is to
trump
oh hell
maybe we should
do away
with the whole
college board
since
it seems
just to be
another
political entity
and
god knows
we don’t need
another
one
of
those
the brown bag prophet
was reading
a book
about freedom
when
he stopped me
and said
freedom
is dependent
upon
wealth
the richer
you are
the
longer
the leash
you have
to wander
away from
the elected
police state’s
junkyard
hell
if you’ve
enough money
you
get to be
a range free individual
giving only
token
compliance
to
societal
and
governmental rules
but
most folks
ain’t got
that
kind of money
so
they stay
tethered
held in place
for
their entire life
oh
some people
get
to have
the equivalent
of
dog runs
letting them
think they’re enjoying
freedom
but
those dog runs
merely
simulate
freedom
cuz’
there’s a fine mesh
of
policies and procedures
to deter
their rights
deterrents
always
presented
as
for their protection
from
those vicious
colored
junkyard dogs
but
the fact is
freedom’s
an
illusion
for
most folks
a compromising
ignis fatuus
the brown bag prophet stopped me and said he had a question for me he asked if students must meet quantitative standards to graduate doesn’t it seem appropriate that school board members also meet some standards like knowing the difference between a political agenda and a curriculum maybe having read the books they want to ban or at least be able to read and comprehend the deeper meaning of the lorax by dr. seuss
the brown bag prophet said given the current list of plagues and school board meetings resembling the spanish inquisition i fully expect that we’ll soon have the great teachers witch trials complete with teachers firmly tied to tetherball poles surrounded by a stack of burning banned books books banned for their revealing the truth about our illustrious forefathers you know the ones that massacred native americans and enslaved others for purely selfish reasons their own financial gain and unfettered power lord knows we can’t have children knowing the truth such truths might hurt their mental status making them feel guilty and limiting how many of them that will be willing to commit similiar crimes in the future and then where would we be
as i was entering the main library i saw the brown bag prophet in the courtyard with a cup of coffee and a stack of law books he seemed to be composing something on a notepad when i inquired he said he was writing a law to pass onto his congressperson for consideration when i asked what rights does it grant the brown bag prophet said nothing’s granted granted implies a regal gift no this law recognizes that women aren’t chattel and have the right to make decisions about their own lives and bodies without the imposition of religious or male mandates for without that they don’t have full citizenship
the brown bag prophet said don’t make no difference whether it’s a church board city council or some politico in state or federal government they’re all carp trying to jump over the dragon’s gate chasing the red ball of power seeking to impose their will on others an obvious attempt at self-coronation
the brown bag prophet
sat comfortably
underneath
an autumn colored
maple tree
reading
a summary
about
the attempted
january insurrection
when he giggled
i asked
what’s so funny
about
such criminal behavior
smiling
and
shrugging his shoulders
he said
who would have
ever
thought
that the story
of
the emperor’s new clothes
would become
an allegory
for a nation’s
political history
i asked the brown bag prophet if it bothered him that the city had cancelled the annual fireworks he said ain’t nothing
to
celebrate
this
fourth of july
won’t even
make
a good wake
for
a dying nation
a nation
with
an ever growing
body bag
count
bagging up
blacks
and
browns
those grown
and
those
who’ll
never
get to grow
shot dead
as they read
what a great nation we are
should have read
we were
and
when we’re done
bagging up
the nra’s
school lunches
we’ll starting
filling up the bags
with
botched abortions
or
young mothers
who died
giving birth
to
a child
demanded by
and
abandoned by
good christians
protecting
a moral code
written
on rice paper
promoted
by
demigods
of
greed
so please
don’t ask me why
i’m
not celebrating
or
upset
about
cancelling
a fantasy freedom event
the brown bag prophet had just finished seeing a new political ad when i ran into him outside my favorite coffee shop he said now ain’t this a bitch the orange glow president is touting his accomplishments for the black community this is the same man who sent his abominable albino hounds of hell to confront peaceful demonstrators over government sanctioned murders of black brothers and sisters around this nation and now that he needs our votes he’s suddenly our best friend offering cash for votes and a new federal holiday celebrating a day that he was going to memorialize whiteness in tulsa until the virus came along and ain’t this the same man who removed mailboxes from our neighborhoods so we couldn’t vote and sent goon squads when we held up demonstration signs and showed up to vote hell i’m pretty certain he’s gonna claim to be a relative of kunta kinte as soon as he gets his white sheet off
after picking up office documents i needed to work from home i saw the brown bag prophet and asked if he planned to watch the presidential debates the prophet said i believe it was james baldwin that turned the phrase masturbatory delusion which clearly delineates what the president will demonstrate in the upcoming debates especially if his previous incoherent self-indulgent jabberwocky sessions are representative so i’d rather not take part in such a voyeuristic exhibition of pathological lying anyway this isn’t some high school speech contest where the winner gets a blue ribbon for the best performance in utilizing stage entertainment techniques we’re talking about someone who will wield enormous worldwide power so basing a decision of who to vote for as a result of three recitations seems quite foolish to me
Read Between the Minds 