Houses of Asthma, A Controversy

It's not my favorite of them all, but I'm especially proud of this poem. Written about 2 years ago, it's a commentary on American slavery, agrarian society, and Black poverty.

Peep

Whatchu you mean we’ve got asthma; something’s terribly wrong
When I heard that our forefathers were so strong
That they carried this land on their backs
I don’t believe they were prone
To asthma attacks

They sang songs that hung on the air of the field, refusing to yield
As they slaved, salvation weighing heavy on hearts
Now I hear my people’s voices don’t sing
They rasp with empty bellows
And shallow coughs

“I thought that we had come so far! I thought we’d gotten stronger!
We’ve left the fields! What’s left for us to conquer!”
Conserve your breath; please understand
While an enemy exists
It’s not the land

It was neither labor nor the fields our forefathers struggled against
They sought to gain the liberties of common men
To freely choose the work of any sphere
Not to say to the field
No longer here

The fields are free; the master has been slain; the whip is silenced
An option have the fields become; our fear of them is unsound
A handicap we’ve put upon our choices
So now we sleep in tenements
With roaches’ poison