A. Light Zachary,
"Poem on not travelling"

I am looking at panoramic images on Google Maps
of high-resolution beauty in lands I will never visit
because I would have to wear disguises there & I
am too proud for that. I am looking at panoramic
images of plains where the people like me are buried
in hasty graves, dug up by starving dogs. I am
looking at panoramic images of places where the
people like me are starving dogs. I am looking at
panoramic images of Everest, unimpressed—
daily I defeat taller & more awful things
& make no headlines. I am looking at panoramic
images of cities where the sun does dazzling
things to the tiles on the walls, where my siblings’
blood trickles out from alleys. No images
are uploaded from inside the alleys. I am looking at
panoramic images with the faces blurred out.