Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse is a Greek word
that means uncovering.
There is a killer virus attacking blood vessels
There are killer wasps in California
And there are killer cops in Minneapolis,
in Georgia, in North Carolina,
pretty much wherever there are
white cops and black people.
All of these things terrify me
and all the people I know.
It’s never been safe to be black in this country
Now it’s not safe to be human.
My son just wants to play with his friends,
have dinners with other families, go out
to movies, on vacation.
Someday he’ll want to walk to the store
by himself, go running by himself.
Someday my white privilege will stop
protecting him. The Greek root of the word
apocalypse is revelation.
All has been revealed to us.
Will we still refuse to see?
Eve Lyons is a poet and fiction writer living in the Boston area. Her work has appeared in Lilith, Literary Mama, Hip Mama, Mutha Magazine, Word Riot, Dead Mule of Southern Literature, as well as other magazines and several anthologies. Her first book of poetry, Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World, was published in May of 2020 by WordTech Communications.
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