A loose grip is also confining;
its implied threat still real.
Shackles are not needed
to confine the body and the soul.
Only part of the story is told by polls.
The majority of Americans
would see us all free.
One grip, by one arm,
one threatening voice to hold me down
for simply being Black or Brown;
for gender choice, or a soft woman’s voice
the gripping fear of one can drown
an entire nation.
And, bring it to its knees
along with those like me.
The gun held against the spine from behind
is just as confining as the chains of slavery.
The raised fist, laws on the books
to force a life-threatening pregnancy
are equally destructive to me.
It has never been about the numbers
the justices rulings proclaim,
when the majority would see us free.
It is about the fawning few who reek of power,
wealth and greed and seek to control
the likes of you and me.
Blindness is a convenient tool
of those who refuse to see
threats now made so openly,
on the streets and airwaves,
on social media, in open courts
and at political rallies.
The narrative of the fascists of old
has not grown cold over the centuries.
It has grown hotter, and now is so bold
even judges blindly embrace its hold.
annarino writes 
Very insightful and accurate in these scary times