MAGA Roller Coaster

We are trapped on a roller coaster
A Great America roller coaster
A Great America again roller coaster.
It’s like an airliner:
the front carriage is first class
reserved for those with the means and wealth
to make their ride both thrilling and fun.
The rest of us sit behind
And because it is an “again” roller coaster
in an echo of a past better forgotten
those with darker skin sit in the back.

The train starts at a high elevation
amid blue skies and hope for the future.
We obediently board and take our seats
and start the descent.
At first there are a few rises
which excite those in first class
though others of us look beyond
and view the steady decline
always spiraling to the right
Not the right of correct,
not the right of inalienable rights,
the right that rhymes with white,
and with night.

We pass through a dark tunnel
and when we emerge we see
the carriages have separated,
become divided.
Those in the lead are on a different track
heading up another incline
while we continue down.
An angry voice sounds telling us
that it is the brown people behind
who are pushing us ever faster.
People around me are shouting with rage.
I turn to look
but no longer see those cars.

I struggle to look ahead
hoping for clear skies
But a mist surrounds the future.
Where does the ride end?