A Better Moment

Mikaela writes:

after Piñero

We need your voices, America,
all your accents,
the way you light up tongues
with your turned-corner phrases.

How will we tell our stories, America,
without all your stories
pouring forth like so much music
blaring from each of your packed cars?

We move forward, America,
at the speed of the slowest among us,
and we're holding ourselves back
when we tell ourselves it has to be this way.

We have to make room for our ghettos
in Wall Street, America,
because what you sell,
we buy, and it's a collective dream now,

so pay up, America.
We owe so much to so many
let's hand out praise
and remind everyone that a hand up

asks a question
that two hands together
can answer
when we say, your voice says it all.

I'm listening, America.
Your story is the one I need to learn.
Tell me soft and slow.
Let's write it down together

and we can read it out loud on days
when things don't look so good
and remember
just how far we've come.