African Voices Summer 2017 AV Summer 2017 Digital Issue | Page 17

genetically modified just means we are God’s kitchen elves
in our laboratory workshop we exist solely
to take some of the worry off the man upstairs

on bigger issues
so he can focus
between every smile and head nod the men in black suits shake hands with neighbors
neighbors who one by one fill trash bins autographed by the FDA
with fruits and vegetables
foregone offerings
from yeye’s garden
after having successfully brainwashed the neighbors the men in black suits
refocus their attention on us
they rob and pillage the earth that was yeye’s garden
stripping the harvest grown by yeye’s hands
my hands
and my brother’s hands
one of them smiles and squats down to whisper to us children
safety first and foremost is the role of the government and
if brother and I are to grow up big and strong we must eat foods blessed by the FDA
then he squeezes a tomato until it bleeds back into the earth from whence it came
and foully
he cuts his eyes across the shadow of yeye’s dying garden
while his comrades gleefully season
ravaged blotches of pubic greenery with salt
a whole row of tomatoes and kale are forced
to give up the ghost
these gardens are un-american old woman
they are communist manifestos
embarking on the plight of an untelevised revolution
one that will not
see the light of day
this soil
this earth is crawling with an infestation of deep-seated toxins
if you attempt to grow again you will face prison time ten years old woman
and take my word for it
this earth will face a solemn violation
we will return with the open mouth of a cement mixer
closing off your crimes once and for all and you old woman
will watch the final curtain call for this
community garden of yours
in the same breath that the engine of the lead car is revved

he exclaims SHE IS A GREENHOUSE TERRORIST
all the while his comrades bade him
to leave the 95-year-old great grandmother to break
as all brittle objects do under extreme pressure
african Voices
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