Mind Kampf

They already built the camps in your mind
Lines of buildings saying “you’re no good.”
The kind of huts that let you know:
Only those who follow what they say are allowed
to stay in the realm of those allowed to speak.

The camps went up in the new year
Surrounded by the barbed wire of not belonging
To the right sect of believing the right way
Of voting the right way
Of sacrificing your sons and daughters without murmur
In the right war at the right time.

The time is now to free yourself from the illusion
That building democracy in a sandstorm
Will make you safe as you watch Wolf Blitzer
And your children make Kool-Aid
And your dog digs a hole under the electronic
Zone that surrounds the mind control box
Called the TV set.

Sunday morning is the best time to drop
The Zyklon B into the hole that leads straight
To the heart of the matter:
Being queer
Not using deodorant
Being black
Not able to get a pardon
Being disposable
Not having enough money
Or the right connections
Or the education
Or the right election
To get into college
To move to the suburbs
To get a job
To pull the strings.

So there’s the pipe
And you know it’s not the answer.
So you go back to the camp
And you go to your hut
And you hope that the fleas and the stink
Keep the guards out
While you think your way through,
Think how to get out.

R. Scardino
12/21/06