if mt. rushmore was black

che called for
one hundred, one thousand,
many more vietnams;
i am calling for
one hundred, one thousand,
many more john browns.

maybe, if mt. rushmore was black,
then i would keep coming back.

the mirror image of ruthless white planterdom,
and its goofy looking stovepipe nemesis,
and the peccable "hero" of san juan hill,

is sally hemings moaning to the moon,
a darky joke leaked to the confederate press,
the hackedup faces of luzon rebels.

and, presiding over it all,
the father of our great experiment
in dialectical democracy, gw,
the first, granite face fattened
by the sunday spoils of mt. vernon.

maybe, if mt. rushmore was black,
then many more of us
would want
to come back.

borglum should have carved
frederick douglass, crispus attucks,
harriet tubman, and phyllis wheatley-

for starts.