When I Dream the Future
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Text of the poem below does not include the formatting
When I Dream the Future
When I dream the future
It is not of a sea of safety pins
Or half the population in a headscarf
It is not white people lining up
Outside mosques screaming
“I am a Muslim!” Spartacus style
It is not even
A rainbow flag on every door
A Black power salute
Between strangers
Or a thousand poems
Quoting the Statue of Liberty
About huddled masses
These are not the things I dream
Because these are not
The things that help me
When I dream the future
It looks something like
The Underground Railroad
Contemporary takes on coded quilts
Garden plots that feed the people
Midwives and doulas revered
And healers everywhere
It looks like secret dispensaries
Of hormones, asthma and diabetes meds
Pain control and anti-anxiety pills
When I dream the future
It involves clandestine meetings
Led by scared and scarred people
Giving orders and directives
To the people who feel so free
To walk in the world safely
And infiltrate spaces to
Burn them down
From the inside
When I dream the future
Disabled people are not discarded
Single moms aren’t doing it
Alone
Children are fed by everyone
Protesters in the street
Protect the most vulnerable
Abortion clinic walkways
Are protected six rows deep
And the abortions are free
As is the birth control offered after
When I dream the future
The sun continues to shine
And its power is harnessed
To provide heat for all that need it
Oil pipelines do not exist
And water is free for all
How are you going to put a price
On what nature gives so freely
When I dream the future
It is the near future
Because I cannot see my own self
Further ahead
These are the dreams of what
I wish I could see today
But I’m afraid I will never see
Because what we have are
Safety pins and
Arguments
And some of us don’t have time
To wait for the future
Of our dreams
