Don't Be Afraid

Write this on your sandwich board and walk
the streets on your lunch break.
Wear a red knit cap.
When no one is looking, stand on the tops
of green mailboxes and speak eloquently.
Yell if you have to.
When the police tell you to stop, obey.
If they ask for your name, disobey.
When they ask for ID, hand them your wallet.
Have a compact mirror in the plastic window.

They are not going to find this funny.

Maybe it's because they are afraid
of what the captain will say when they let you go
and the next day buy sandwich boards.
More likely they are afraid of their brothers,
of letting them down, pissing them off,
getting them killed.

You can relate to the police, their concerns
are genuine and no doubt hightened
by the everyday violence and public scrutiny.
You have brothers too.
You are not afraid of the police.
Give them your compassion.

Go back to work.

There is more.