Democracy Poem #1
By
June Jordan
Tell them that I stood
in line
and I waited
and I waited
like everybody
else
But I never got
called
And I keep that scrap
of paper
in my pocket
just in case
in line
and I waited
and I waited
like everybody
else
But I never got
called
And I keep that scrap
of paper
in my pocket
just in case
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2020 by June Jordan, “Democracy Poem #1” from The Essential June Jordan, (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). Poem reprinted by permission of The June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.