Reparations Metric Ending in Assisted Schadenfreude

By Marcus Wicker

It is impossible to come up with a fair metric for recompensing slavery ten
generations after slavery’s end.
—Ben Shapiro, Fox News

What apple, which conquistador
oats? Which ruby red
moat, what filet of bartered goat?
Which glazed carrot caught your nose,

drew you into the station
w/ blinders on? Horse’s ass.
Quaffed cad. Whatdoya call a
property tax on a revolving

accessory? What’s a loan
w/o a lessor, B? Which of these
eventualities is not like the other—free
& clear from the shattering / a mast

of tears makes / when it fractures /
scalpels away / silt / clean off

a runaway cliff,
before gashing the quarry w/ after-
shot? I’ll take my safety net in breakneck
class action union wage annuity checks

from Ancestry.com, 23 & Everybody
Who’s Made a Killing Trafficking
in Families & Trees. Run me my knot,
Money. Untie my limbs. Underwrite

the court costs, plus notary fees
to petition my change of surname.
Now multiply that expense by a modest
interest rate accrued over 154 summers,

give or take. Or strap weights
to your ankles / go float in a lake.

Source: Poetry (November 2019)