The regimes all line the street
Saluting each other to rival mountains of indelicacy
And to each his own
Going both ways, two can coexist…
A man is guided along the curb, he stops to see the KKK, the Taliban, Unite the Right, al Qaeda, ISIS, the Aryan Nations,
And the rest of them, still monsters when he’s brave
Human faces with ears and noses and fingers and toes

They’re standing still inside their cage
Like lions at the zoo
A prime example to many domestic cats of the world
“How could you do this?”

He stops and the entire parade behind him sighs
Insignia by the thousands takes to muttering
“I am from Hong Kong (a whisper from China). They did this to my people. It is not right. How could you—“
A woman kicks him in the shin, from behind it’s enough to make him stumble forward
He collects himself
Nothing more than his dignity has been lost
Though he doesn’t know it
He carries himself in the chains like he did back then
Back before, when the streets walked empty
He swallows hard — a cold and broken vial of glass is caught under his windpipe
“That’s right. Gas them.”

Facing the road ahead, it waxes no better than the pavement he currently stands on
A thousand heads around him will nod in approval
Strict rows to keep him steady
Positive reinforcement for the things he knows are terrible
But his leader now, the one far before him on the street, must care that he thinks alike
After all, two can coexist (he is told)
But only if they do not differ.

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Artwork by Jonathan West