<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Kindergarten Justice<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">an anvil sits on the heart of America</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">her breath labored through a mouth wide open<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">in a frozen scream of boundless rage for justice<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">and we, blinded by tears, implore the goddess</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">to remove her blindfold before escape from this madness<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">is too late and sense by sense our country, coursing wildly <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">with no fulcrum to steady her compass, be sucked away<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">ruins of this metal wind, this breathless insanity<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">challenge our balance to stay upright<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">justice is abandoned, a rumble of unimaginable trouble <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">growls from behind doors we thought could never open</span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">age has shortened our stride, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">but how did our younger sense of fairness<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">get lost in our older hearts<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">before we began to make histories of our lives, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">our polished cheeks brimming with innocence, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">we knew when something wasn’t right, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">we had the certainty of kindergarten justice, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">the resolute declaration of “that’s not fair!”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">stand up, act out, throw a tantrum, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">join the voices of awareness reciting <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">the courage of our memory, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">even if pitted against all odds<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">we can exhume the body of justice<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">once the battle is joined, <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">we will never have to <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">fumble in our pockets <o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">for evidence of resistance<o:p class=""></o:p></span></span></p><div class=""><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><span class=""><span class=""> </span></span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Jo Ann Smith</span></span></p></div></div></body></html>