is that you america?
in a hallway
or hurrying down subway stairs
are you standing at a bus stop
pulling up beside me at stoplights?
do you amble through the dollar store
credit card in hand
and is this all yours america:
towers & strip-malls
shingles & vinyl siding & garbage mounds
black as crows pecking at the bags

— and how about birds america?
& the sky
is that yours too?

can you hold it all in your hands?

and i want to know
how you’re feeling america
does your head hum
is your belly empty
need a drink, a nibble, a man-sized meal?
taste me, my salt, my sweet, my sticky crumbs

am i crisp — can you break me
with a snap that sounds
like knuckles cracking & tell me

if i should wash you clean or stroke
you or whisper in your ear but remember
your promise to keep me safe — to tuck me in

& say sleep tight
and I want to know, do you
dream of me america?

did you hear dogs barking at night
& see numbers blinking
on your clock & in that gray

half-light did you wonder if it’s today
or yesterday or even who you are
& maybe you’re wandering

down an unlit tunnel with doubt’s cold
fingers on your neck
& you don’t know how it all started

and can’t see a beginning
or an end, so
tell me if you’re breathing america?
let me hold a mirror to your lips