The Last Billionaire Died Today
No one
Could hear
That last breath
Over the sound of everyone eating.
Violence seems to follow me
through different bodies still,
It’s language
that
I’m afraid of.
It’s mostly Time
they have taken
from us
history is always so hush
hush about that time loss.
On the long street of plans
Growing older was never
Etched into the concrete
Mostly, it’s overdraft math
escaping somnambulist debts
Asking tomorrow to be less
In favor of living more today
Mostly, it’s names scratched
Into the street, mostly names
places, and expiration dates.
Mostly, there was never a model
For a life beyond a quick grave you
Couldn’t afford; credit card burial
Corner store the candle light vigil
a car wreck
a short walk
a wrong place
a wrong time
This life is just a long twitch
I have yet to get under control.
When they spray us with pesticides
Now there is a port-a-potty.
Now there is a bus with a roof.
We're dreaming of resting,
working nightmares because
without work we'll die and
I thought to myself the other day,
We are at the end of a very long dystopian novel
that’s been happening for a few thousand years
and
yet,
We deserve to be Human.
It’s like They think we don’t know that.
They, being the colonizer.
They, being the fascists.
They, being the state.
Angel DominGuez
Angel Dominguez has survived a 100-year flood, a close encounter with a bear, a fire, a second fire, and a lifetime of systemic racism. They will not go down without a fight. They’re the author of ROSESUNWATER (Forthcoming with The Operating System) and Black Lavender Milk (Timeless, Infinite Light 2015). Their third book, DESGRACIADO (the collected letters) is forthcoming with Nightboat Books in 2021.