Poet's Corner: "City of Dreams Deferred"

New York, New York,
Big city of dreams deferred.
Where black love is often gunned down
Before it can mature as promised.
A man with no weapon is a threat
To cops, who are unpunished
For shooting engagements with an unarmed man.
They're able to return to work acquitted of fault.
New York, New York,
Big city of dreams deferred;
Where women become widows
Days before they are to be brides.

New York, New York,
Big city of dreams deferred.
Where protection and service
Run only on 12-hour shifts.
Off duty means off into your own world.
The power to heal is useless
When first responders look
Upon a pregnant woman unable to breathe,
Spilling coffee and doughnut crumbs
On the dying victims.
New York, New York,
Big city of dreams deferred;
Where mother and child meet in the morgue
Not the maternity ward.

New York, New York,
Big city of dreams deferred.
Where nations united in bureaucracy
Gather and vent various theories
And practice rhetoric.
They come united in oppression
And clothed by good will.
New York, New York,
The biggest crucible in the world,
Where all colorization is burned away
Until what is left is only the purest white.

By A. Jarrell Hayes

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