One Year Later: What to Fear More

by Amy Uyematsu

haiku after the Atlanta shootings

It began last spring
             Flowers blooming like crazy
                          No balm to our fear

Crazy state of mind
             These deadly viruses of
                          Division and hate


Anti-Asian hate
             Insults, stabbings, now shootings
                          History repeats


Now we have vaccines
             The pandemic slowing down
                          A race war growing


Personal safety
             Covid or someone hunting
                          Me down as scapegoat


American as
             Valuing white over black
                          Color-based justice


Once Covid’s over
             Can we stop what was unleashed
                          Whose side are you on


Yes, I was born here
             Never felt like I belonged
                          So angry my hope


Don’t talk of normal
             It will never be realized
                          But keep speaking truth


Business as usual
             But the masks have been ripped off
                          The heart revealed


Spring blossoms again
             In spite of what my heart knows
                          Lulls the broken eye


More from Amy Uyematsu:

“This Hand,” an iPoem