i saw a string of black men
standing in the wet grass
block after block
holding signs upright
in the icy wind and rain
for hours on end
advertising the sale
at the furniture store
where white salespersons
were selling quality furniture
at very reasonable prices
to white consumers
in the warmth of the store
and it felt to me
that it cost too much
to buy so much as a
lampshade at the sale
in that there were
no white men
holding signs upright
in the icy wind and rain
for hours on end
in fact it felt to me
that if a white man
had been spotted
holding a sign upright
in the icy wind and rain
for so much as a minute
the owner of the store
would have shown up
with a sludge hammer
and he would have
pounded the sign
into the ground