When they started killing us, we said “Stop Asian Hate”
as if they were spilling our blood out of mere distaste
as if our existence is a topic for controversial debate
as if our lives are a common annoyance they face –
heat waves
politicians
joint pain
long division
the price of gas
worn-out socks
algebra class
alarm clocks
missing keys
endless lines
too many questions at the DMV
same Christmas song for the hundredth time
incorrect autocorrect
phones with cracked screens
folks with no respect
being left on seen
But they don’t pass exclusion acts against slushy highways
or put pineapple pizzas in internment camps
They don’t slaughter nations of nail-biters
or wage eight-year wars over muscle cramps
Hate is merely the hand of greed
that seizes the whole as the white man’s portion
and guards this privilege zealously
against all attempts to equalize fortune
To fight hate rather than oppression
is to cure the sneezing rather than the cold
Only three hundred revolutions can liberate
a prison of stones three hundred years old
