Trivial Times

Tony Baggett_AdobeStock_571969682

POETRY FOR INCLUSION

Good morning America
Eerie and armed visits a bank
Bullets replace currency
Grim deposits, no withdrawal
And the Derby City mourns

Good afternoon America
Baleful being visits a party
Lead supplants the sixteen candles
Lively souls with dreams now lifeless
And Tallapoosa County grieves

Good evening America
Darkness descends on innocence
Ammunition highjacks driveway
Four friends subtracted by one shot
And Washington County weeps

Good night America
Racism scolds Black bell ringer
Sinister shots meant to destroy
Swarthy sunny skin now distressed
And the City of Fountains bleeds

And

America’s ego defenses
Rationalization
Denial
Remain bulletproof

More in this series:

One Dimensional

Our Nation’s Zoo

Dr Clark is an outpatient psychiatrist at Prisma Health-Upstate and clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville. He served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry, and he currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion section editor and advisory board member for Psychiatric Times.