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

June Jordan, “Democracy Poem #1” from The Essential June Jordan. Copyright © 2021 by June Jordan. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. See coppercanyonpress.org.