You out here by Rhea Melina

You out here

Yeah, you out here
making fun of millionaires
          in space
but have you canceled
your Prime membership?
If not, it’s you
paying for it, all
          of it
with your money and your time and
your energy and your eyes
and you will go nearly blind
but won’t be able
to pay for your prescription
cause you been paying for the high rise
          of the cost
creeping higher with every penny
every battery made of blood
Congolese human bones and teeth
Congolese barefoot calluses

Yeah, you out here
reposting woke memes
but have you considered
reparations? From
your bank account to
Black bank accounts?
from kings to peasants
from watermelon farmers to
Palestinian seeds
from strawberry parfait
to strawberry fields
and field workers flown to concentration camps
El Salvadoran air infested with flies eating shit
because silence is consent
and secrets are warfare
Lies are armor
and I was taught in youth that words are my weapons
but my weapons only work if you listen

You took pictures of my beauty
and you remembered that
instead of the ugly
truth I wanted to talk about
but I’m still here
My whisper has turned to a shout
Your career ladder is a farce
When you climbed it you became a tool
Do you even know that when you talk
you sing the song of the machine?
I can’t be real and not scream
when you have the fucking nerve to
tell me you are Funemployed
You
rich
bitch, show
me the money
and get
to fucking work