Not to Blame (Day 24)

Not to Blame
by Hannah Six

They are not
to blame for the fact
that their names
sound complicated
to our ears,
that their language
tastes piquant
on our tongues,
that their eyes
—turned toward
the brilliance
of our priceless
treasure—burn
like the July sun
on our shoulders,
that their existence
looks like silvery
chimes and rush-hour
traffic and
teenage dystopian
fiction.
How could blame
breathe
in the vacuum of our
fear?
How
could its heart beat,
mired in the shivering
quicksand of
our shame
at stepping over
who they are
on our way to work?

(c) 2017, by Hannah Six