Juneteenth
another day presented
as a celebration
for the rest/
of all of us/
to be free

but was that really what it was meant to be?

it was rebellious states’
slaves
sent on their merry way
(still sans any mule
much less forty whole acres
of stolen land)

but what about border states/
other divided propriety/
when did they
let go
of their ‘human property’

the amendment
that’s the one
that’s the final
say it and done

nope

you know better

you know slavery just got a different name

they called it “policing”

they call it “prison labor”

it’s there in black and white
in the language of the amendment itself
no abolition of slavery
could be 100% savory
in this united states of indecency
and stolen everything/everybody/every body

so let’s observe Juneteenth
not as a day of everyone’s celebration
(no matter what that one banner in that once city implies)
but as our day of learning
repairing
and not
not
not
repeating
the mistakes
of our
[not so far back]
past
ancestors.