From the Anthology
Black Women Coping in Clevelandby Dr. Mary Weems
White woman wants us to open wide
like a door
let commerce run
a river she believes will be the color of mud, sky
everything swimming within.
Her sign white, with black letters repeats what President
has repeated
a chant that lies in rhythm
that pretends thousands aren’t dying
his name not the last thing they say, but
They believe the virus Is a hoax
They believe it started in China
They believe enough tests are available
They believe
Plandemic
a fake documentary film that claims
that masks cause the virus.
Is this why
I look out my window and see none of my neighbors
bother to wear them
as if Trump is a medical doctor
as if Trump is telling the truth
as if hundreds of people aren’t dying
From Covid 19 daily.
Author Bio
Dr. Mary E. Weems' is a poet, playwright, author, imagination-intellect theorist, and cultural foundations scholar. Weems’ earned her B.A. and M.A. from Cleveland State University and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Weems is the author of thirteen books including Blackeyed: Plays and Monologues and Writings of Healing and Resistance: Empathy and the Imagination-Intellect, five chapbooks, and numerous poems, articles and book chapters. In 2015, Weems’ was awarded a Cleveland Arts Prize, and both of her poetry books An Unmistakable Shade of Red and the Obama Chronicles, and For(e)closure, were finalists for Ohioana Book Awards. Weems has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her fourteenth book Still Hanging: Using Performance Texts to Deconstruct Racism which she co-authored with Dr. Bryant Alexander, is forthcoming from Brill/Sense Press in the Spring of 2021. To purchase Dr. Weems books, leave her a message, and/or get updates on current projects please visit her website at www.maryeweems.org
