I Come from Two Americas

 Inspired/in homage to the great poem by Vir Das- I come from two Indias

I come from an America that sanctifies a bundle of DNA inside a uterus

And I come from an America that equally sanctifies the gun and the executioner’s chair

So that when that unwanted fetus breathes its last

It may die by one or the other

 

I come from two Americas

I come from an America that extolls the virtues of our democracy abroad

While giving two presidencies in my lifetime to men with fewer votes

 

I come from two Americas

I come from an America full of every color and creed and I think that’s beautiful

When the schoolchildren put their hands over their hearts each morning and pledge

Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

In classrooms surrounded by children whose faces and economic backgrounds are a mirror to their own

 

I come from an America in which the average size of a woman is my size; 170.6 pounds

And I come from an America where I’ve never seen a 170.6 pounds woman on TV

I come from two Americas

 

I come from an America where the threads that hold together our better angels have never been so tenuously stitched

And I come from an America where every day I see the indomitable power of American alms with a generosity unmatched in all the world

 

I come from two Americas

I come from an America where 60% of the population doesn’t have a passport and yet 20% speak a language other than English at home

And I come from an America where both statistics are meaningless

Because leave is not a right and most Americans would rather bleed out or call an Uber to the hospital than pay for the ambulance ride

 

I come from two Americas

I come from the America covered in vast, natural landscapes and beautiful, diverse peoples living together

And I come from the America where blood has been spilled every day since the first

For this and to this

 

I come from both of these Americas

That will either revile or rejoice

At one side of these dichotomies or the other

Stomping our feet with a boldness and audacity

That inspires both wonder and fear