The Rice and Tea

The Rice and Tea



The price of tea in China?
No less important today than when
The question was first asked.

Capitalized.

What has it to do?
The price of beans in Mexico? Apples?
Vodka in Russia? Apples?
Guns in America? Apples?

Exchanged.

Separated—freed from
Vast otherness, from
Pilloried witches, from
Selfless billionarism, from
Sustainable freedoms.

Bogeymen.

We consume our rights like
They consume their staples:
Orally, verbally, intensely:
Speech, assembly,
Jingoism, xenophobia,
Arm-bearingness:
Upward mobility:
Safety. Oil. Religion.

Strawmen.

United—bound to
Common myths, to
Oaths, love, and allegiance, to
Selfish entitlements, to
Neighbors’ fleeting freedoms.

Unaccounted.

Self-evident, indeed.
Like laziness. Like Apples.
Like imperialism. Like Apples.
Like violence. Like Apples.

Shared.

The price of tea in China
Is our excuse: why it matters.
Now, what was the question?

Consumed.
Answered.




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