12 Years a Slave at 10,000 Feet [a #poem]
(c) Rabbi Menachem Creditor
can't live with my eyes
forced them open
blinked back blinding tears
witnessed degradation reenacted
on a screen at 10,000 feet.
a black man
stolen, beaten,
dehumanized.
sold.
suddenly a hand on my shoulder.
"would you like something to drink, sir?"
i look up into her smiling, friendly face.
her black face.
pressed pause.
though the distance
between real and act was clear
they also suddenly merged,
and i felt ashamed to ask
for anything.
forced myself to breathe and act normal,
to ask, to request
- not ordered, not that word -
a drink.
stared at that ginger ale in shock,
couldn't drink it
just watched it sit there.
hot, horrified tears on my cheeks.
forced myself to look up
pressed pause again.