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Inhabitant of earth for fortysomething years 5
I once found myself in a peaceful country. I watch neighbors open
their phones to watch
a cop demanding a man’s driver’s license. When the man reaches for his wallet, the cop Ilya Kaminsky
shoots. Into the car window. Shoots.

It is a peaceful country. 5
We pocket our phones and go.
To the dentist,
to pick up the kids from school,
to buy shampoo 10
and basil.
Ours is a country in which a boy shot by police lies on the pavement
for hours.
We see in his open mouth
the nakedness 15
of the whole nation.
We watch. Watch
others watch.
The body of a boy lies on the pavement exactly like the body of a boy —

It is a peaceful country. 20
And it clips our citizens’ bodies
effortlessly, the way the President’s wife trims her toenails.
All of us
still have to do the hard work of dentist appointments,
of remembering to make 25
a summer salad: basil, tomatoes, it is a joy, tomatoes, add a little salt.
This is a time of peace.

I do not hear gunshots,
but watch birds splash over the backyards of the suburbs. How bright is the sky
as the avenue spins on its axis. 30
How bright is the sky (forgive me) how bright.
2019

17
Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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